Cumulative stress, PTSD, and emotion dysregulation during pregnancy and epigenetic age acceleration in Hispanic mothers and their newborn infants

Figures & data

Figure 1. Overview of analytic sample.

Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study.

Characteristics of Mothers (N = 89)	Mean (SD), range or N (%)
Age	26.93 (5.09), 18.28–38.10
Race/Ethnicity
White/Hispanic	31 (34.8%)
Black/Hispanic	7 (7.9%)
Other/Hispanic	51 (57.3%)
Annual income < $20,000	47 (75.8%)^a
Unemployed	46 (51.7%)
Medicaid/Medicare	79 (95.2%)^b
Less than high school diploma or GED	26 (29.9%)^c
Tobacco use during pregnancy	8 (9.0%)
Tobacco use ever	25 (28.1%)
Marijuana use during pregnancy	10 (11.2%)
Marijuana use ever	21 (23.6%)
Smoking score^#	14.7 (19.81), −22.82–79.34
LES past-year stressful events	3.3 (2.89), 1–13
STRESS PTSD Symptoms	18.37 (15.73), 0–51
DERS Emotion Dysregulation	72.11 (23.39), 36–129
Characteristics of Newborns (N = 89)
Sex (% Female)	55 (61.8%)
Gestational age (weeks)	39.17 (1.21), 34.29–41.43
Head Circumference (Centimeters)	33.94 (1.20), 30.50–36.50
Length (Inches)	19.76 (0.90), 17.50–22.00
Weight (Grams)	3261.73 (421.35), 2150–4120

Note. ^aMissing for 27 participants. ^bMissing for 6 participants. ^cMissing for 2 participants. ^#The description of 39 CpG sites that were used to calculate the smoking score were presented in Supplementary Table 1.

Figure 2. Associations between GrimAge acceleration and (a) number of past-year stressful life events (LES), (b) PTSD symptoms (STRESS), and (c) difficulties in emotion regulation in mothers (DERS). Results are from multiple linear regression models, adjusted for proportions of monocyte, B cell, NK, CD4+T and epithelial cells. Gray shaded area represents 95% confidence region.

Table 2. Associations of GrimAge acceleration and gestational epigenetic age acceleration with maternal stress, PTSD symptoms, and difficulties in emotion regulation.

	Beta Estimate	SE	t-value	p-value
GrimAge acceleration (separate linear regressions)
LES past-year stressful events	0.31	0.08	3.76	3.23e-04
STRESS PTSD symptoms	0.04	0.02	2.39	0.019
DERS emotion dysregulation	0.02	0.01	2.23	0.028
GrimAge acceleration (full model)
LES past-year stressful events	0.28	0.11	2.58	0.012
STRESS PTSD symptoms	5.89e-04	0.02	0.03	0.98
DERS emotion dysregulation	7.97e-03	0.01	0.65	0.52
PhenoAge acceleration (separate linear regressions)
LES past-year stressful events	0.27	0.12	2.29	0.025
STRESS PTSD symptoms	7.89e-03	2.24e-02	0.35	0.73
DERS emotion dysregulation	4.26e-03	1.52e-02	0.28	0.78
PhenoAge acceleration (full model)
LES past-year stressful events	0.41	0.15	2.64	0.010
STRESS PTSD symptoms	−3.17e-02	2.91e-02	−1.09	0.28
DERS emotion dysregulation	−7.80e-03	1.76e-02	−0.44	0.66
Horvath’s multi-tissue age acceleration (separate linear regressions)
LES past-year stressful events	9.42e-03	1.10e-01	0.09	0.93
STRESS PTSD symptoms	−7.20e-03	2.00e-02	−0.36	0.72
DERS emotion dysregulation	8.42e-03	1.35e-02	0.62	0.54
Horvath’s multi-tissue age acceleration (full model)
LES past-year stressful events	0.03	0.14	0.19	0.85
STRESS PTSD symptoms	−0.02	0.04	−0.78	0.44
DERS emotion dysregulation	0.01	0.02	0.87	0.39
Gestational epigenetic age acceleration (separate linear regressions)
LES past-year stressful events	−7.78e-03	9.43e-03	−0.83	0.41
STRESS PTSD symptoms	−3.74e-03	1.72e-03	−2.18	0.032
DERS emotion dysregulation	−1.87e-03	1.16e-03	−1.61	0.11

Note. Results are from multiple regressions, controlling for sex (only in infants), and proportions of monocyte, B cell, NK, CD4+T and epithelial cells. Significant effects are shown in bold. SE = standard error.

Figure 3. Association between gestational epigenetic age acceleration and maternal PTSD symptoms (STRESS). Results are from multiple linear regression models, adjusted for sex and proportions of monocyte, B cell, NK, CD4+T and epithelial cells. Gray shaded area represents 95% confidence region.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, DJG, upon reasonable request.