The following is a summary of “Maternal psychological stress during pregnancy and newborn telomere length: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” published in the December 2023 issue of Psychiatry by Moshfeghinia et al.
Maternal stress during pregnancy could impact a newborn’s cellular aging, potentially influencing future health risks.
Researchers launched a retrospective analysis to unify the diverse findings on maternal prenatal stress and newborn telomere length (TL), probing for factors that modify this association.
They registered systematic reviews in Prospero. Searched 6 databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL Complete) for English records from inception (February 10, 2023).Included observational studies measuring the impact of maternal psychological stress during pregnancy on newborn’s TL. Used the Newcastle–Ottawa scale for study quality assessment, employed a random-effect model, and conducted statistical analysis with Stata software version 17.
The results showed 8 studies for qualitative and four for quantitative analysis. An inverse statistically significant relationship was observed between maternal stress and newborn TL; a one-score increase in maternal psychological stress led to a 0.04 decrease in newborn TL (B = -0.04, 95% CI = [-0.08, 0.00], P=0.05). Selectivity analysis revealed sensitivity to one study; the exclusion of this study maintained the pooled effect size’s significance (B = -0.06, 95% CI = [-0.10, -0.02], P<0.001).
Investigators concluded that maternal stress, confirmed to shorten newborn telomere length, calls for further research on its potential health impact.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-05387-3
