Page 8 - 2017-2018 ARCS Oregon Annual Report

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“My research examines maternal psychological stress during pregnancy as a potential mechanism for the intergenerational transmission of childhood trauma. Childhood trauma is a pervasive public health problem with devastating and lasting consequences across the lifespan. Researchers have found a link between maternal childhood trauma and depression and anxiety during pregnancy. Maternal childhood trauma has also been linked
to infant outcomes such as increased stress reactivity and risk of emotional and behavioral dysregulation. My work uses machine learning
to create trajectories or signatures of maternal stress during pregnancy. I am looking to see whether there are stress signatures associated with maternal childhood trauma. I am also using infant neuroimaging and psychosocial assessments to see if these signatures predict infant brain and affective development. Finally, I am evaluating whether
a therapeutic intervention designed to reduce psychological stress during pregnancy will alter
the stress signatures and reduce the risk of altered infant neurodevelopment. Understanding the role of maternal psychological stress during pregnancy will help us to improve the targeting and timing of prenatal screening and therapeutic interventions for women with a history of childhood trauma.”
Mollie Marr
Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU
ARCS Named Scholar
given by: Dianne Rodway & John Becker Adrianne & Lee Peterson