Trajectories of stress biomarkers and anxious-depressive symptoms from pregnancy to postpartum period in women with a trauma history

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow diagram describing the recruitment process.

Figure 2. Correlations among stress biomarkers and anxious-depressive symptoms along T1, T2, and T3.

Table 1. Characteristics of studied population.

Variable	Non-trauma group (n = 59)	Trauma group (n = 42)
	Mean (SD)/n (%)	Mean (SD)/n (%)
	Median (1st, 3rd Q.)	Median (1st, 3rd Q.)
Age	31.61 (4.48)	31.93 (5.18)
	33 (29, 35)	33 (29, 36)
Gravity	1.81 (0.86)	2.05 (1.15)
	2 (1, 2)	2 (1, 2.75)
Parity	0.63 (0.61)	0.64 (0.79)
	1 (0, 1)	0.5 (0, 1)
STAI-Trait	14.9 (7.79)	17.63 (8.35)
	13.5 (9, 21)	16 (12, 22)
Caesarean section
No	47 (79.66%)	32 (76.19%)
Elective	6 (10.17%)	8 (19.05%)
Urgent	6 (10.17%)	2 (4.76%)
In Vitro Fertilization
No	58 (98.31%)	38 (90.48%)
Yes	1 (1.69%)	4 (9.52%)
pHv	7.26 (0.4)	7.24 (0.49)
	7.32 (7.28, 7.36)	7.3 (7.28, 7.36)
Birth weight (g)	3285 (352)	3291 (433)
	3320 (3050, 3515)	3250 (2952, 3657)
Apgar 5	9.09 (1.64)	9.1 (1.08)
Sex
Girl	29 (50%)	22 (52.38%)
Boy	29 (50%)	20 (47.62%)
Breast feeding
No	14 (25.93%)	8 (19.05%)
Yes	40 (74.07%)	34 (80.95%)
Cortisol (nmol L^−1)
T1	4 (3)	8 (6)
	3 (1, 6)	6 (3, 12)
T2	7 (7)	7 (4)
	6 (1, 9)	6 (4, 8)
T3	5 (5)	5 (5)
	5 (1, 7)	5 (1, 7)
α-Amylase (U mL^−1)
T1	121 (114)	87 (115)
	90 (50, 150)	40 (13, 90)
T2	84 (64)	74 (88)
	80 (30, 130)	40 (20, 110)
T3	171 (113)	160 (112)
	150 (80, 200)	150 (80, 200)
STAI-State
T1	13.3 (7.6)	17.6 (8.9)
	12 (8, 18)	16 (12, 21)
T2	12.7 (8.5)	13.8 (7.5)
	11 (6, 17)	12 (8, 18)
T3	12.4 (8.5)	10.4 (6.4)
	11 (6, 15)	9 (6, 14)
BDI/SF
T1	1.7 (1.7)	2.8 (2.9)
	1 (0.25, 2)	2 (1, 4)
T2	1.6 (2.6)	1.9 (2.1)
	1 (0, 2)	1 (1, 2)
T3	1.8 (2.3)	2.1 (2.6)
	1 (0, 2.25)	1 (0, 3)
TQ score	-	4.19 (3.28)
	-	3 (1.25, 6)
Years since trauma	-	5.67 (5.24)
	-	2.5 (2, 9.75)
Type of trauma
Witness of unexpected death of others	-	19 (45.24%)
Threat to serious injury of self	-	16 (38.1%)
Threat to the physical integrity of self	-	5 (11.9%)
Threat to the physical integrity of others	-	2 (4.76%)

STAI = State form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; BDI/SF = Beck Depression Inventory Short Form; TQ = Trauma Questionnaire

Note. Mean calculated considering 0.05 nmol L⁻¹ (LOD/4) the cortisol concentrations lower than the Limit Of Detection (LOD)

Table 2. Statistical parameters corresponding to the quantile regression models obtained for the cortisol and α-amylase variables.

Cortisol	Estimate	Std. Error	Lower 95%	Upper 95%
Intercept	6.243	2.890	0.662	11.882
T2	0.513	1.048	−1.461	2.613
T3	−0.428	1.082	−2.497	1.737
Trauma	2.598	1.109	0.524	4.849
Age	−0.087	0.089	−0.260	0.086
Parity	0.123	0.563	−0.973	1.220
T2:Trauma	−0.678	1.590	−3.888	2.426
T3:Trauma	2.734	2.021	−1.148	6.623
Sd code	1.878	0.586	0.498	2.938
α-amylase	Estimate	Std. Error	Lower 95%	Upper 95%
Intercept	133.066	44.167	46.422	217.750
T2	−12.114	12.829	−37.308	13.176
T3	65.646	17.846	31.141	101.795
Trauma	−30.208	15.251	−59.798	0.229
Age	−1.312	1.356	−3.982	1.352
Parity	1.284	8.849	−15.733	18.833
T2:Trauma	6.672	18.596	−28.938	43.503
T3:Trauma	13.195	24.328	−34.625	61.966
Sd code	35.678	8.375	19.055	53.263

Sd code = the standard deviation of the random intercept

Table 3. Statistical parameters corresponding to the ordinal regression models obtained for the anxiety and depressive symptoms.

STAI-State	Estimate	Std. Error	exp (Estimate)	Lower 95%	Upper 95%
T2	−0.118	0.375	0.889	0.435	1.834
T3	−0.13	0.395	0.878	0.402	1.895
Trauma	1.283	0.56	3.609	1.243	10.561
Age	0.114	0.048	1.121	1.021	1.235
Parity	−0.401	0.324	0.67	0.352	1.25
T2:Trauma	−0.671	0.59	0.511	0.157	1.624
T3:Trauma	−2.182	0.656	0.113	0.031	0.399
Sd code	1.836	0.264	-	1.35	2.37
BDI/SF	Estimate	Std. Error	exp(Estimate)	Lower 95%	Upper 95%
T2	−0.555	0.4	0.574	0.264	1.259
T3	−0.034	0.424	0.966	0.419	2.2
Trauma	1.163	0.624	3.2	0.972	10.919
Age	0.085	0.057	1.089	0.974	1.219
Parity	−0.026	0.382	0.975	0.455	2.108
T2:Trauma	−0.258	0.61	0.773	0.233	2.473
T3:Trauma	−0.925	0.681	0.397	0.1	1.505
Sd code	2.211	0.327	-	1.636	2.898

Sd code = the standard deviation of the random intercept

Figure 3. Graph representing the cortisol, α-amylase, anxiety, and depression levels.

Figure 4. Graph representing the association between the trauma type and α-amylase levels in the trauma group.