Journal article
Exposure to prenatal life events stress is associated with masculinized play behavior in girls
Neurotoxicology (Park Forest South), Vol.41, pp.20-27
03/2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2013.12.011
PMCID: PMC4098934
PMID: 24406375
Abstract
Previous research has shown that prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals can alter children's neurodevelopment, including sex-typed behavior, and that it can do so in different ways in males and females. Non-chemical exposures, including psychosocial stress, may disrupt the prenatal hormonal milieu as well. To date, only one published study has prospectively examined the relationship between exposure to prenatal stress and gender-specific play behavior during childhood, finding masculinized play behavior in girls who experienced high prenatal life events stress, but no associations in boys. Here we examine this question in a second prospective cohort from the Study for Future Families. Pregnant women completed questionnaires on stressful life events during pregnancy, and those who reported one or more events were considered "stressed". Families were recontacted several years later (mean age of index child: 4.9 years), and mothers completed a questionnaire including the validated Preschool Activities Inventory (PSAI), which measures sexually dimorphic play behavior. In sex-stratified analyses, after adjusting for child's age, parental attitudes toward gender-atypical play, age and sex of siblings, and other relevant covariates, girls (n=72) exposed to prenatal life events stress had higher scores on the PSAI masculine sub-scale (β=3.48, p=0.006) and showed a trend toward higher (more masculine) composite scores (β=2.63, p=0.08). By contrast, in males (n=74), there was a trend toward an association between prenatal stress and higher PSAI feminine sub-scale scores (β=2.23, p=0.10), but no association with masculine or composite scores. These data confirm previous findings in humans and animal models suggesting that prenatal stress is a non-chemical endocrine disruptor that may have androgenic effects on female fetuses and anti-androgenic effects on male fetuses.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Exposure to prenatal life events stress is associated with masculinized play behavior in girls
- Creators
- Emily S Barrett - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, United States. Electronic address: Emily_barrett@urmc.rochester.eduJ Bruce Redmon - Department of Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States. Electronic address: redmo001@umn.eduChristina Wang - Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, CA 90502, United States. Electronic address: wang@labiomed.orgAmy Sparks - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States. Electronic address: amy-sparks@uiowa.eduShanna H Swan - Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, United States. Electronic address: shanna.swan@mssm.edu
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Neurotoxicology (Park Forest South), Vol.41, pp.20-27
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.neuro.2013.12.011
- PMID
- 24406375
- PMCID
- PMC4098934
- NLM abbreviation
- Neurotoxicology
- ISSN
- 1872-9711
- eISSN
- 1872-9711
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV; Netherlands
- Grant note
- R01 ES009916 / NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES005022 / NIEHS NIH HHS UL1TR000124 / NCATS NIH HHS M01-RR00400 / NCRR NIH HHS K12 ES019852 / NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES023515 / NIEHS NIH HHS K12 ES019852-01 / NIEHS NIH HHS R21ES015509 / NIEHS NIH HHS ES01247 / NIEHS NIH HHS UL1 TR000124 / NCATS NIH HHS P30 ES001247 / NIEHS NIH HHS M01RR0425 / NCRR NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/2014
- Academic Unit
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Record Identifier
- 9983931819002771
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