Impact of Perinatal Pandemic-Related Stress on the Early Caregiving Environment, Infant Functioning, DNA Methylation, and Telomere Length

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ABSTRACT Pregnancy marks a time of increased challenges among families that may be exacerbated by conditions known to enhance stress reactivity and disrupt emotion regulation, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For this already vulnerable population, the 2020 pandemic may constitute a trifecta of calamities, with currently unknown, but likely deleterious effects on the caregiving environment and infant outcomes. In the first three-month period, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on individuals, families, and communities across the world, with preliminary evidence for an increase in the prevalence and severity of mental health problems. As such, understanding the impact of PTSD and pandemic-related stress on families with children born during the pandemic is critical for identifying and driving novel approaches to prevention and intervention, especially during similar crises. The current study seeks to recruit a diverse cohort of women and their partners who were in the final two trimesters of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase 1 of the study will involve a large-scale survey (N=2,000) of these individuals to assess perinatal stress exposure occurring in the context of the pandemic. Phase 2 will involve selecting individuals from the Phase 1 survey to establish two subgroups with high (n=200) and low (n=200) perinatal pandemic-related stress exposure to participate in a comprehensive and longitudinal assessment protocol, including interviews, parent-child interactions, an infant stress paradigm, and biological sample collection. Aims are to: (1) use person-centered latent class analysis of perinatal pandemic-related experiences to identify unique profiles that vary on the types and quantity of stress exposure and differentially associate with race/ethnicity, caregiver-reported perceived stress, emotion dysregulation, PTSD, parenting, and infant dysregulation (stress-reactivity and emotional/behavioral problems) in the large Phase 1 survey cohort (N=2,000); (2) Compare infants with high and low perinatal pandemic-related stress and examine caregiver emotion dysregulation, PTSD, and responsive parenting as potential mediators of this relationship in the longitudinal Phase 2 cohort (N=400); and (3) identify differentially methylated regions of DNA and differences in telomere length and changes over time in infants in high v. low perinatal stress groups. Assessment procedures will integrate the experiences and functioning of both the mother and partner when considering implications for offspring. This work will yield mechanistic insight on how pandemic-related stress, caregiver emotion dysregulation, and PTSD influence multiple aspects of the caregiving environment and infant outcomes and is expected to directly inform perinatal public health interventions as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and its sequelae unfold.