Biobehavioral Assessment of Stress in Adolescent Pregnancy: Perinatal Outcomes

在美国，任何一天都有超过1100名青少年分娩，大量证据表明，他们的孩子患上不良围产期后果和未来心理健康的风险增加。2006年的新数据显示，美国15-19岁青少年的出生率自2005年以来增长了3%，这是自1991年以来的首次增长[1]。到2010年，少女人口预计将增长10%(2)。进一步增加出生到青少年的人数。怀孕的青少年更多的是物质上的贫困和少数民族，而且这一趋势也在上升。非西班牙裔黑人青少年的生育率为63.7‰，比2005年增加了5%；西班牙裔青少年为83.0‰，增长了2%；非西班牙裔白人青少年为26.6‰，增长了3%[1]。这项应用的总体目标是确定，在这一未得到充分服务和研究的人群中，暴露于母亲产前应激是否会导致不良的出生结局和围产期神经行为发育的改变。积极的发现将表明 不良发育轨迹的风险始于围产期，这可能意味着先发制人的心理社会干预的开始。这里提出的生物心理社会研究的具体目标是：(1)评估孕期的生活压力。 并将其与后代结局联系起来，以及(2)使用生态上有效的方法确定这种假定联系的生物学途径。

On any given day in the United States, more than 1100 adolescents give birth, and massive evidence demonstrates that their children are at increased risk for adverse perintal outcomes and future psychopalhology. New dala for 2006 indicale that the birth rate for U.S. adolescents ages 15-19 years old increased by 3% since 2005, the first increase since 1991 [1]. The population of adolescent girls is expected to grow by 10% by 2010 (2]. further increasing the number of births to teens. Adolescents who are pregnant are more often materially poor, and minorities, and this trend too is on the rise. Rates are 63.7 births per 1,000 for non-Hispanic black adolescents - a 5% increase from 2005; 83.0 for Hispanic teenagers, a 2% increase, and 26.6 for non- Hispanic white adolescents, a 3% increase [1). The overall goal of this application is to determine if, in this underserved and understudied population, exposure to maternal antenatal stress contributes to poor birth outcomes and alterations in perinatal neurobehavioral development. Positive findings would indicate that risk for poor developmental trajectories is initiated in the perinatal period, and would suggest openings for preemptive psychosocial interventions. The specific goals of the biopsychosocial research proposed here are to (1) assess life stress in pregnant adolescents and relate it to offspring outcomes and (2) determine the biological pathways for this putative association using ecologically valid approaches.