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Emotion regulation moderates between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and oxytocin response

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Abstract

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is associated with oxytocin dysregulation in women, such as decreased peripheral oxytocin concentrations, but little is known about vulnerability markers for oxytocin dysregulation in mothers exposed to ACEs. Identifying vulnerability markers may help inform future targets for prevention and intervention programmes. This study provided a preliminary examination of emotion regulation as a potential moderator of the association between maternal ACEs and peripheral oxytocin levels. The current study included a sample of 38 postpartum women. Women completed questionnaires on exposure to ACEs and difficulties with emotion regulation. At a clinic visit at 9 months postpartum, women provided plasma and salivary oxytocin samples anchored around a mother-infant interaction. Associations between maternal ACEs, three dimensions of difficulties with emotion regulation, and peripheral oxytocin concentrations were examined. Linear regression analyses showed that greater difficulties engaging in goal-directed behaviour (β =  − 0.50, p = 0.01) and more limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies (β =  − 0.68, p < 0.001) were related to reduced plasma oxytocin concentrations in postpartum women. Furthermore, in postpartum women reporting greater exposure to ACEs, higher levels of nonacceptance of emotional responses (β =  − 0.55, p = 0.01) and more limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies (β =  − 0.54, p = 0.01) were associated with reduced salivary oxytocin response (i.e. decreased change in oxytocin concentrations from baseline) following mother-infant interaction. Difficulties with emotion regulation may serve as a vulnerability marker for oxytocin dysregulation in postpartum women exposed to ACEs, and this suggests that emotion regulation may be an important target for future clinical interventions. Future research is recommended which replicates these preliminary results and which examines how emotion regulation and peripheral oxytocin levels in mothers exposed to ACEs are associated with parenting and child development outcomes.

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Data and material are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This study is a result of research funded by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (formerly known as NARSAD) through a Young Investigator Grant to A. Gonzalez [ID#: 18189]. The authors would like to thank Marg Coote for her support in the collection and the analysis of plasma and salivary oxytocin samples.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (formerly known as NARSAD) through a Young Investigator Grant to A. Gonzalez [ID#: 18189]. G. England-Mason is supported by a Postgraduate Fellowship in Health Innovation provided by Alberta Innovates, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, and the Government of Alberta. A. Gonzalez is supported by a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Family Health and Preventive Interventions. H.L. MacMillan is supported by the Chedoke Health Chair in Child Psychiatry. The funding sources were not involved in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the article; or the decision to submit the article for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Gillian England-Mason

  2. Owerko Centre, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Gillian England-Mason

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Harriet L. MacMillan, Meir Steiner & Andrea Gonzalez

  4. Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Harriet L. MacMillan

  5. Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster Innovation Park - Suite 201A, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Harriet L. MacMillan & Andrea Gonzalez

  6. Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Leslie Atkinson

  7. Women’s Health Concerns Clinic, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Meir Steiner

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  1. Gillian England-Mason
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  3. Leslie Atkinson
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  5. Andrea Gonzalez
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Correspondence to Andrea Gonzalez.

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All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethnical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable standards. The study protocol was approved by the McMaster Research Ethics Board and the Research Ethics Board of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

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England-Mason, G., MacMillan, H.L., Atkinson, L. et al. Emotion regulation moderates between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and oxytocin response. Arch Womens Ment Health 25, 421–430 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-021-01194-5

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