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

SUPPLEMENT 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). 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. The parent R01 seeks to recruit a diverse cohort of women and their partners who pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase 1 will involve a survey (N=2,000) to assess perinatal stress exposure. Phase 2 will involve a longitudinal study of subgroups with high (n=200) and low (n=200) perinatal stress (with oversampling of Latinx women). Aims are to: (1) identify unique pandemic-related stress profiles that vary on the types and quantity of stress exposure and differentially associate with race/ethnicity, caregiver-reported emotion dysregulation, PTSD, parenting, and infant dysregulation (Phase 1); (2) Compare infants with high and low perinatal stress and examine caregiver emotion dysregulation, PTSD, and responsive parenting as mediators of this relationship (Phase 2); and (3) identify differentially methylated regions of DNA and differences in telomere length and changes over time in infants by stress group. This work will yield mechanistic insight on how pandemic-related stress and caregiver functioning influence the caregiving environment and infant outcomes, with implications for perinatal public health interventions. The proposed Diversity Supplement will enable us to further contextualize the lived experiences of Black and Latina women and expand our understanding of social determinants of perinatal maternal stress and protective factors during this unprecedented time. The candidate, Ms. Adriana Sowell, a Black and Jamaican woman, obtained a BA in Sociomedical Sciences from the University of Connecticut in 2021 and plans to apply to public health and medical schools. Ms. Sowell intends to pursue an academic career centered on the social determinants health and health disparities experienced by Black and Brown communities. Supplement aims (under parent aims 1 and 2) are to (1) employ a qualitative, grounded theory approach to identify emerging themes relevant to adverse pandemic- related experiences, including racial/ethnic stress and discrimination, of Black and Latina women who were pregnant during the pandemic, (2) examine whether themes reflecting their perinatal experiences associate with maternal psychosocial health and well-being, and (3) explore factors that may buffer pandemic-related stress. Ms. Sowell will collect qualitative data via focus groups and qualitative interviews with Black and Latina women from the parent study. This supplement will provide Ms. Sowell mentored training in research administration (Training Goal 1) and qualitative research (Training Goal 2), pursuing a topic that builds naturally on her commitment to understanding the intersectionality of race, ethnicity and health. The proposed supplement will provide an outstanding foundation upon which to build Ms. Sowell's academic research career.