Goal:
Examine effects of maternal stress on birth outcomes. Personality factors, neuroendocrine responses, and fetal physiology assessed as mediators of stress-outcome relationship.
Design:
Two assessments a week apart were conducted at low risk birthing center and at high risk obstetrics clinic in university medical center. Interview and biological samples (plasma to assay HPA function).
Funded by NICHD
PI: Curt Sandman
CoPI: Chris Dunkel Schetter
Project Coordinator/CoInv: Pathik Wadhwa
Selected Publications
Glynn, L. M., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Wadhwa, P. D., & Sandman, C. A. (2004). Pregnancy affects appraisal of negative life events. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 56(1), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00133-8 View file: 
Wadhwa, P. D., Garite, T. J., Porto, M., Glynn, L., Chicz-DeMet, A., Dunkel-Schetter, C., & Sandman, C. A. (2004). Placental corticotropin-releasing hormone, spontaneous preterm birth and fetal growth restriction: A prospective investigation. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 191, 1063-1069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2004.06.070 View file:
Davis, E. P., Snidman, N., Wadhwa, P. D., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Glynn, L. M., & Sandman, C. A. (2004). Prenatal maternal anxiety and depression predict negative behavioral reactivity in infancy. Infancy, 6(3), 319-331. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327078in0603_1 View file:
Glynn, L. M., Wadhwa, P. D., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Chicz-DeMet, A., & Sandman, C. A. (2001). When stress happens matters: Effects of earthquake timing on stress responsivity in pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 184, 637-642. https://doi.org/10.1067/mob.2001.111066 View file:
Feldman, P. J., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Sandman, C. A., & Wadhwa, P. D. (2000). Maternal social support predicts birth weight and fetal growth in human pregnancy. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62(5), 715-725. https://doi.org/0033-3174/00/6205-0715
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Rini, C. K., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Wadhwa, P. D. , &Sandman, C. A. (1999). Psychological adaptation and birth outcomes: The role of personal resources, stress, and sociocultural context in pregnancy. Health Psychology, 18(4), 333-345. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.18.4.33 View file:
Sandman, C. A., Wadhwa, P. D., Chicz-DeMet, A., Dunkel-Schetter, C., & Porto, M. (1997). Maternal stress, HPA activity, and fetal/infant outcomes. In B. E. Beckwith, A. Saria, B. M. Chronwall, C. Sandman, & F. L. Strand (Eds.), Annals of the new york academy of sciences: Neuropeptides in development and aging (Vol. 81, 266-275). New York Academy of Sciences. View file:
Wadhwa, P. D., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Chicz-DeMet, A., Porto, M., & Sandman, C.A. (1996). Prenatal psychosocial factors and the neuroendocrine axis in human pregnancy. Psychosomatic Medicine, 58(5), 432-446. View file:
Dunkel-Schetter, C., Sagrestano, L., Feldman, P., & Killingsworth, C. (1996). Social support and pregnancy: A comprehensive review focusing on ethnicity and culture. In G. Pierce, B. Sarason, & I. Sarason (Eds.), Handbook of social support and the family (pp. 375-412). Plenum. View file:
Sandman, C., Wadhwa, P., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Chicz-DeMet, A., Belman, J., Porto, M., Murata, Y., Garite, T., & Crinella, F. (1994). Psychobiological influences of stress and HPA regulation on the human fetus and infant birth outcome. In F. L. Strand, B. Beckwith, B. Chronwall, & C. A. Sandman (Eds.), Annals of the New York academy of sciences: Models of neuropeptide action (Vol. 739, 198-210). New York Academy of Sciences. View file:
Wadhwa, P. D., Sandman, C. A., Porto, M., Dunkel-Schetter, C., & Garite, T. J. (1993). The association between prenatal stress and infant birth weight and gestational age at birth: A prospective investigation. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 169(4), 858-865. https://doi.org/0002-9378/93 View file: