Variability in perinatal sleep quality is associated with an atypical cortisol awakening response and increased mood symptoms.

Objective: Pregnancy is often typified with a decrease in sleep quality, which for many women, progressively worsens across gestation and into the postpartum. A mechanism linking poor sleep with certain adverse pregnancy outcomes is dysregulation of the HPA axis resulting in atypically elevated cortisol production. While total cortisol output normally increases across pregnancy, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), a response to waking up, is influenced by factors such as stress and mood.

Sleep and Mood Among Women With Histories of Depression When They Used a Responsive Infant Bassinet During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To describe the experiences of women with histories of depression who used a responsive infant bassinet during the first 6 months after birth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Secondary qualitative descriptive study with analytic expansion.

Setting: United States.

Psychosocial impacts, preventive behaviours, and concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic for pregnant and non-pregnant women: A matched analysis from the International iCARE Study.

Background:  The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected physical and psychological health worldwide. Pregnant women were likely more vulnerable to mental health difficulties due to the significant social, psychological, and hormonal changes they experience. During the pandemic, higher rates of antenatal depression and anxiety were observed compared to pre-pandemic rates.

Prenatal mood and anxiety disorders and associated cytokine changes.

Background: We examined whether women with prenatal mood and anxiety disorders would exhibit differential pro- and anti-inflammatory marker trajectories during the prenatal and postpartum periods compared to women without these disorders.

Methods: Approximately 179 pregnant women participated in a longitudinal study conducted in two urban areas. Blood samples for inflammatory markers were collected at six study visits.

Postpartum Insomnia and Poor Sleep Quality Are Longitudinally Predictive of Postpartum Mood Symptoms.

Objective: Insomnia and poor sleep quality are frequently reported by perinatal women. Both are noted to increase the risk of postpartum depression, with less known about their association with postpartum anxiety. This study sought to assess whether perinatal sleep disturbances predicted depression and anxiety symptoms across each month of the first 6 months postpartum in women with a history of depression.

Pregnancy-specific anxiety and gestational length: The mediating role of diurnal cortisol indices.

Background: Preterm birth or shorter gestation is a common adverse pregnancy outcome. Pregnancy-specific anxiety is robustly associated with risk for shorter gestation. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) dysregulation, indicated by diurnal cortisol index variability [slope, area-under-the-curve (AUC) or cortisol awakening response (CAR)], could mediate associations between pregnancy-specific anxiety and shorter gestation.

Psychological and physical health behavior deviations in students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study sought to understand how the pandemic impacted mental and physical health behaviors in University students. Undergraduate and graduate students were asked to answer questions on depression, anxiety, stress, sleep quality, and physical activity "prior to" and "during" the shutdown. 457/960 (47.

Systematic review: sleep health in the US Latinx population.

Sleep disturbances are a common and unmet health problem in Latinx. While Latinx report similar sleep disturbances as non-Hispanic Whites [NHW], Latinx suffer from these disturbances to a greater degree than their NHW counterparts. Sleep disturbances are associated with increased risk of chronic health conditions, which Latinx experience at high rates.

Improvement of Insomnia Symptoms following a Single 4-Hour CBT-I Workshop.

Study Objectives: : Cognitive behavioral treatment for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first line of treatment for insomnia. However, the expanded use of CBT-I is limited by the number of specialty-trained clinicians in addition to the duration and cost of individual treatment sessions. One viable option is a single-session educational group format delivered by a trained health educator.

Inflammatory and immune marker trajectories from pregnancy to one-year post-birth.

Background: Pregnancy is an immunomodulatory state, with reported systematic changes in inflammatory and immune activity by pregnancy stage. Published data are inconsistent as to how inflammatory and immune markers change and recover across pregnancy and the postpartum period, or the sociodemographic, health and pregnancy-related factors that could affect biomarker trajectories. The purpose of this study is to describe inflammatory and immune marker trajectories from pregnancy to a year post-birth, and to test associations with sociodemographic, health and pregnancy-related variables.

Comparison of longitudinal diary and actigraphy-assessed sleep in pregnant women.

Study Objectives: Various methods are employed to assess sleep in pregnant women, including self-report, sleep diary, and actigraphy. Unfortunately, the data are often contradictory, and interpretations are often inconsistent. The current aims are to compare subjective and objective sleep data in pregnant women collected longitudinally in early pregnancy.

Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Emotional and Physical Health of Older Adults Compared with Younger Cohorts.

Objectives: This study compared emotional and physical health and overall well-being related to social restrictions during the pandemic among older, middle-aged, and younger adults in the United States ( = 276).

Methods: Online surveys collected information on mental and physical health, as well as positive and negative impacts of the pandemic. One-way MANOVAs and hierarchical regressions were used to analyze data.

Postpartum sleep loss and accelerated epigenetic aging.

Background: Insufficient sleep has been linked to accelerated biological aging in adults, providing a possible mechanism through which sleep may influence disease risk. In the current paper, we test the hypothesis that short sleep in postpartum would predict older biological age in women one year post birth, as indicated by accelerated epigenetic aging.

Methods: As part of a larger study of pregnancy and postpartum health (Healthy Babies Before Birth, HB3), 33 mothers provided blood samples for epigenetic aging clock estimates.

Sleep Disturbance in Early Pregnancy, but Not Inflammatory Cytokines, May Increase Risk for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes.

Background: It is unclear whether subjective or objective measures of sleep during pregnancy are more pertinent to pregnancy outcomes. Moreover, it is unclear as to whether subjective indices (i.e.

Sleep Disturbances and Modulations in Inflammation: Implications for Pregnancy Health.

When a woman becomes pregnant, there is a vast series of physiological, vascular, and psychological changes. Among the most commonly reported changes are those involving sleep. Pregnant women report that their ability to maintain sleep and acquire continuous refreshing sleep is impaired during the perinatal period as compared to the non-pregnant period.

Link between insomnia and perinatal depressive symptoms: A meta-analysis.

Evidence shows the possible link between insomnia and perinatal depressive symptoms. In order to find a convergent quantitative answer, we collected data via the search of Medline, EMBASE and reference tracking, which included nine studies (a total sample of 1,922 women). An aggregate effect size estimate (correlation coefficient) was generated using the comprehensive meta-analysis software.

Poor sleep quality increases symptoms of depression and anxiety in postpartum women.

This study evaluated the relationship between sleep quality and symptoms of depression and anxiety in women studied in pregnancy and postpartum. Scores on standardized measures of sleep (PSQI) at 6 months postpartum, and symptoms of anxiety and depression (OASIS, the PHQ9, and EPDS) were assessed by structured interviews in 116 women in pregnancy and/or postpartum. Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with greater symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Concurrent insomnia and habitual snoring are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objectives: Pregnant women report disturbed sleep, including habitual snoring and insomnia. The co-occurrence among non-pregnant cohorts is 30%-50% with increased risk for adverse health outcomes. To date, no study has examined the comorbid status or impact in pregnant women.

Allostatic load in early pregnancy is associated with poor sleep quality.

Background: Allostatic load (AL) measures the cumulative impact of chronic stress and is associated with adverse health outcomes. A novel scoring system has previously been developed for AL in early pregnancy that is associated with pre-eclampsia. It was hypothesized that AL, as identified by the present model, is associated with psychosocial stressors and, specifically, poor sleep quality.

Exercise during early pregnancy is associated with greater sleep continuity.

Objectives/background: Pregnant women report disturbed sleep beginning in early pregnancy. Among nonpregnant populations, exercise has been associated with improved sleep; however, research in pregnant samples has been equivocal. We examined whether varying degrees of exercise were associated with better nocturnal sleep among pregnant women during early gestation.

Disturbed Sleep and Postpartum Depression.

The perinatal period introduces a myriad of changes. One important but often overlooked change is an increased reporting of sleep disturbance. Although casually regarded as a consequence of pregnancy or postpartum, there is emerging evidence implicating significant sleep disturbance, characterized by insomnia symptoms and/or poor sleep quality, with adverse outcomes, such as an increase in depressive symptomatology or the development postpartum depression (PPD).

Sleep and postpartum depression.

Purpose Of Review: The perinatal period introduces a myriad of changes. One important but often overlooked change is the increased risk for sleep disturbance. Although casually regarded as a consequence of pregnancy or postpartum, there is emerging evidence to suggest that women with significant sleep disturbance, characterized by insomnia symptoms and/or poor sleep quality, are more likely to report an increase in depressive symptomatology or develop postpartum depression (PPD).

Identifying Insomnia in Early Pregnancy: Validation of the Insomnia Symptoms Questionnaire (ISQ) in Pregnant Women.

Study Objectives: Although a substantial number of pregnant women report symptoms of insomnia, few studies have used a validated instrument to determine the prevalence in early gestation. Identification of insomnia in pregnancy is vital given the strong connection between insomnia and the incidence of depression, cardiovascular disease, or immune dysregulation. The goal of this paper is to provide additional psychometric evaluation and validation of the Insomnia Symptom Questionnaire (ISQ) and to establish prevalence rates of insomnia among a cohort of pregnant women during early gestation.

Minimal Effect of Daytime Napping Behavior on Nocturnal Sleep in Pregnant Women.

Study Objectives: To assess whether daytime naps negatively impact nocturnal sleep.

Design: Longitudinal, prospective cohort design.

Participants: 161 pregnant women recruited and evaluated in early gestation (10-20 weeks).