Chronic Stress and C-Reactive Protein in Mothers During the First Postpartum Year
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The current study tested associations between psychosocial stress and CRP in a large sample of women during the first postpartum year. METHODS: We analyzed data collected by the five-site Community Child Health Network study, which studied a predominately poor population. Participants (n = 1206 women; 54% African American, 23% white, 23% Hispanic/Latina) were recruited shortly after the birth of a child. Multiple linear regression analyses tested associations of psychosocial stress in several life domains (financial, neighborhood, family, coparenting, partner relationship, discrimination, and interpersonal violence) with log-transformed CRP concentrations at 6-month and 1-year postpartum. RESULTS: Forty-eight percent of participants showed evidence of elevated CRP (≥3 mg/L) at 6-month postpartum, and 46% had elevated CRP at 12-month postpartum. Chronic financial stress at 1-month postpartum predicted higher levels of CRP at 6- (b = .15, SE = .05, p = .006) and 12-month postpartum (b = .15, SE = .06, p = .007) adjusting for race/ethnicity, income, education, parity, health behaviors, and chronic health conditions, though associations became nonsignificant when adjusted for body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: In this low-income and ethnic/racially diverse sample of women, higher financial stress at 1-month postbirth predicted higher CRP. Study findings suggest that perceived financial stress stemming from socioeconomic disadvantage may be a particular deleterious form of stress affecting maternal biology during the year after the birth of a child.
Source: Psychosomatic Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1085336507, G1442005089, G145773288, G165779761, Documenting the CAPPR Process in the L.A. Site of the Community Child Health Netw, G2170959795, G2215079182, Community Child Health Network: Baltimore, G2487320688, G2547913612, G2925267661, G297412162, G3738782258, G376301274, Community Child Health Network: District of Columbia, Community Child Health Network-Los Angeles, G4079957175, G4394549127, G4433614098, G4476107, G4826498121, G4874770744, G495372391, Community Child Health Research in Washington, D.C., Community Child Health Network, Eastern North Carolina, Community Child Health Network-Lake County, IL, PEDIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CVD RISK FACTORS, G7281391200, Carolina Population Center, Data Coordination and Analyses Center for the Community and Child Health Network, G799102804
OpenAlex ID: W2563384129