Journal
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
Volume 50, Issue -, Pages 264-273Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.08.013
Keywords
Cortisol; Pregnancy; Postpartum; Women/men; 1st/2nd time parents
Categories
Funding
- Science and Technology Foundation, Government of the Portuguese Republic [SFRH/BD/13768/2003]
- FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade - COMPETE
- National Funds through FCT Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [PTDC/SAU/SAP/116738/2010]
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/13768/2003] Funding Source: FCT
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Background: Pregnancy and postpartum have been associated to several physiological changes; however, empirical evidence was almost exclusively obtained in primiparous women and few studies focus on hormonal changes in men and second-time parents. The main aim of this study is to examine 24-h urinary free cortisol from mid-pregnancy to 3-months postpartum, comparing women/men and first/second-time parents. Methods: Twenty-six women and 22 men (N = 48) were recruited from an antenatal obstetric unit in Porto, Portugal. 24-h urinary free cortisol was measured at the 2nd and 3rd trimester and at 3-months postpartum. Repeated measures analyses of variance were conducted, in order to analyze 24-h urinary free cortisol patterns of change over this period. Gender and parity were included in the analyses as potential modifiers, in order to compare women and men, and first-and second-time parents. Results: An increase from the 2nd to the 3rd trimester (p = .006) and a decrease from the 3rd trimester to 3-months postpartum (p = .005) were reported in all parents' 24-h urinary free cortisol. The interaction effects for Time * Gender (p = .03) and Time*Parity (p = .02) were found. Women and first-time parents revealed higher levels, while men and second-time parents showed lower 24-h urinary free cortisol levels at the 2nd trimester than at 3-months postpartum. Conclusions: Findings appear to clarify the direction, as well as, the timing, gender and parity extension of 24-h urinary free cortisol changes from mid-pregnancy to 3-months postpartum. The same pattern of change in all parents' 24-h urinary free cortisol from mid-pregnancy to 3-months postpartum is consistent with the proposed role of hormones in preparation to parenting. Gender and parity differences and effects on 24-h urinary free cortisol are also consistent with cortisol as a stress biomarker for higher challenges associated to pregnancy and childbirth in women and first-time parents versus higher demands related to after childbirth parenting in men and second-time parents. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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