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Resilience During Pregnancy: How Early Life Experiences are Associated with Pregnancy-Specific Stress

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Abstract

High levels of maternal pregnancy–specific stress are associated with an increased risk for adverse birth outcomes as well as anxiety and depression symptoms during and following pregnancy. There is evidence that early childhood experiences play an important role in maternal psychological health and well-being and may be important for shaping maternal vulnerability to pregnancy-specific stress. The current study examined the link between both maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and protective and compensatory experiences (PACEs) and pregnancy-specific stress and considered the mediating and moderating roles of resilience on these associations. Data came from a high-risk clinic cohort of 138 racially diverse pregnant women (ages 16–38). We found that resilience mediated the associations between PACEs and pregnancy-specific stress and moderated the association between ACEs and pregnancy-specific stress. In particular, high levels of resilience were protective against pregnancy-specific stress at low and moderate levels of ACEs. The findings highlight the importance of early childhood experiences on women’s well-being during pregnancy and demonstrate how both ACEs and PACEs contribute to and are protected by resilience.

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Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (P20GM109097; Jennifer Hays-Grudo, PI).

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  1. Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

    Mira Armans, Samantha Addante & Lucia Ciciolla

  2. Department of Human Development and Family Science, Oklahoma State University, 700 N. Greenwood Ave., Tulsa, OK, 74106, USA

    Machele Anderson & Karina M. Shreffler

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  1. Mira Armans
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  2. Samantha Addante
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  3. Lucia Ciciolla
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  4. Machele Anderson
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Correspondence to Karina M. Shreffler.

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The Oklahoma State University Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this study.

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The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to thank the HATCH Project participating clinics, and particularly Drs. Karen Gold, Jameca Price, and Lance Frye for their support.

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Armans, M., Addante, S., Ciciolla, L. et al. Resilience During Pregnancy: How Early Life Experiences are Associated with Pregnancy-Specific Stress. ADV RES SCI 1, 295–305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-020-00017-3

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