Gender minority stress and diurnal cortisol profiles among transgender and gender diverse people in the United States.

The field of behavioral neuroendocrinology has only begun to explore the lived experiences of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people exposed to stigma. In light of escalating attacks and legislation targeting TGD people in the United States, it is crucial to examine the physiological pathways through which gender minority stressors become embodied, impact health, and contribute to health inequities. The Trans Resilience and Health Study included baseline data collection from fall 2019 to spring 2020 from a sample of 124 TGD people, reflecting a diversity of gender identities (e.

Depressive Symptoms, External Stress, and Marital Adjustment: The Buffering Effect of Partner's Responsive Behavior.

Guided by theory emphasizing that partner responsiveness underlies well-functioning romantic relationships, we examined whether partners' responsive behavior buffered the degree to which a personal vulnerability (depressive symptoms) and external stress predicted declines in relationship adjustment. Using an existing dataset, we tested whether individuals' depressive symptoms and stress interacted with observer-coded partner responsive behavior during marital conflict discussions to predict change in marital adjustment at the next time point (N = 195 couples Time 1 to Time 2, 158 couples Time 2 to Time 3). Individuals experiencing greater (a) depressive symptoms or (b) stress showed sharper declines in marital adjustment.

Is Low Power Associated with Submission During Marital Conflict? Moderating Roles of Gender and Traditional Gender Role Beliefs.

Lower power during marital interactions predicts greater aggression by men, but no research has identified women's response to lower power. We tested whether women who experienced lower situational power during conflict exhibited greater submission, especially if they held traditional gender role beliefs and thus accepted structural gender differences in power. Newlywed couples (Time 1 = 204 couples) completed questionnaires and discussed an area of conflict 3 times over 3 years.

Lay Stakeholders in Science and Research Initiative: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association.

The American Heart Association (AHA) is the largest not-for-profit funder of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease research in the United States. It has supported research of independent scientists for 7 decades with the goal of finding novel discoveries that will reduce death and disability from these diseases and ultimately improve overall health. In 2014, the AHA approved a pilot initiative to include lay stakeholders (patients, caregivers, and passionate advocates) in its research and science operations.

Biocultural approaches to transgender and gender diverse experience and health: Integrating biomarkers and advancing gender/sex research.

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people are increasingly visible in U.S. communities and in national media.

Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies.

Given the powerful implications of relationship quality for health and well-being, a central mission of relationship science is explaining why some romantic relationships thrive more than others. This large-scale project used machine learning (i.e.

Childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response: The role of observed marital conflict behavior.

Childhood family adversity predicts adult interpersonal behavior and physiological responses to interpersonal stress. Additionally, negative marital behaviors (e.g.

Physical activity and depressive symptoms during pregnancy among Latina women: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Latina women are at increased risk for antenatal depressive disorders, which are common during pregnancy and are associated with elevated risk for poor maternal health and birth outcomes. Physical activity is a potential mechanism to reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms. The purpose of the study was to assess whether total and domain-specific physical activity in early pregnancy reduced risk for elevated antenatal depressive symptoms in mid-late pregnancy in a population of Latina women at high-risk for depression.

Prenatal Perceived Stress and Adverse Birth Outcomes Among Puerto Rican Women.

Background: Preterm birth and low birthweight contribute substantially to the disproportionately high infant mortality rates experienced by Puerto Ricans in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the timing and pattern of prenatal psychosocial stress increased risk of adverse birth outcomes in this high-risk population.

Materials And Methods: Proyecto Buena Salud was a prospective cohort study conducted from 2006 to 2011 among predominantly Puerto Rican women.

Stigma and diurnal cortisol among transitioning transgender men.

This study assessed diurnal cortisol functioning in relation to stigma-based transition-specific stressors experienced by transgender men during their transition from female to male. Sixty-five healthy transgender men undergoing testosterone therapy participated in in-person interviews through which transition-specific stressors were identified. Interviews were coded according to participant reported (1) Transitioning-identity stress; (2) Coming Out stress; (3) Gender-specific Public Bathroom stress; and (4) levels of general Perceived Stress.

Early Pubertal Timing and Childhood Family Adversity Interact to Predict Newlywed Women's Anxiety Symptoms.

The contextual amplification hypothesis posits that girls' early pubertal timing will predict anxiety and depression symptoms most strongly when early puberty occurs under adverse conditions. Research supporting this hypothesis has consistently linked early pubertal timing occurring in adverse contexts to symptoms during adolescence, but little is known about the link to adult symptoms. The present study examined the extent to which women's reports of early pubertal timing and childhood family adversity interact to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression during the first two years of marriage.

Depression During Pregnancy and Adverse Birth Outcomes Among Predominantly Puerto Rican Women.

Objectives To examine associations between depression and preterm birth and small-for gestational age (SGA) among women of predominantly Puerto Rican descent, a population who experiences disparities in adverse birth outcomes and one of the highest infant mortality rates in the United States. Methods Proyecto Buena Salud (PBS) was a prospective cohort study conducted from 2006 to 2011 at a large tertiary care center in Western Massachusetts. Caribbean Islander (i.

Concurrent and prospective associations between HPA axis activity and depression symptoms in newlywed women.

We investigated the extent to which individual differences in activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) are associated with depressive symptoms among newlywed couples. Participants were 218 couples (M age 28.4 years; 94% White) who provided 5 saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol and DHEA-S) before and after participation in a discussion of a major area of disagreement in their relationship.

Depression and anxiety predict sex-specific cortisol responses to interpersonal stress.

Clinical theories posit interpersonal stress as an important factor in the emergence and exacerbation of depression and anxiety, while neuroendocrine research confirms the association of these syndromes with dysregulation in a major stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. However, the proposal that depression and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses are associated with problematic HPA responses to close relationship stress has not been directly tested. We examined 196 heterosexual dating couples' depression and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses, assessed with questionnaires and diagnostic interviews, in relation to cortisol responses to discussion of an unresolved relationship conflict.

Longitudinal changes in spouses' HPA responses: Convergence in cortisol patterns during the early years of marriage.

Objective: Drawing on theories of bidirectional influence between relationship partners (Butler, 2011; Diamond & Aspinwall, 2003), the authors applied dyadic analytic methods to test convergence in cortisol patterns over time in newlywed couples.

Method: Previous studies of bidirectional influence in couples' cortisol levels (Liu, Rovine, Klein, & Almeida, 2013; Papp, Pendry, Simon, & Adam, 2013; Saxbe & Repetti, 2010) found significant covariation in couples' daily cortisol levels over several days, but no studies have tested whether cortisol response similarity increases over time using a longitudinal design. In the present study, 183 opposite sex couples (366 participants) engaged in a conflict discussion in a laboratory visit about 6 months after their marriage, and again about 2 years into the marriage.

Attachment and Health-Related Physiological Stress Processes.

People who are more securely attached to close partners show health benefits, but the mechanisms underlying this link are not well specified. We focus on physiological pathways that are potential mediators of the connection between attachment in childhood and adulthood and health and disease outcomes. Growing evidence indicates that attachment insecurity (vs.

Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of premenstrual syndrome in a prospective cohort study.

Background: Moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects 8-20 percent of premenopausal women. Previous studies suggest that high dietary vitamin D intake may reduce risk. However, vitamin D status is influenced by both dietary vitamin D intake and sunlight exposure and the association of vitamin D status with PMS remains unclear.

Congruence between spouses' perceptions and observers' ratings of responsiveness: the role of attachment avoidance.

Although close relationships require partners to depend on one another for mutual responsiveness, avoidantly attached individuals are especially averse to risking such dependency. The authors propose that both avoidant and non-avoidant individuals perceive signs of their own and their partners' responsiveness in ways that reflect motivated perceptions of dependency. The present research examined how the interplay between spouses' attachment avoidance and observed responsive behaviors during marital conflict shaped perceptions of their own and their partners' responsiveness.

Spouses' attachment pairings predict neuroendocrine, behavioral, and psychological responses to marital conflict.

This research investigated how spouses' attachment styles jointly contributed to their stress responses. Newlywed couples discussed relationship conflicts. Salivary cortisol indexed physiological stress; observer-rated behaviors indexed behavioral stress; self-reported distress indexed psychological stress.

HPA regulation and dating couples' behaviors during conflict: gender-specific associations and cross-partner interactions.

The way romantic partners behave during conflict is known to relate to stress responses, including activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; however, little attention has been paid to interactive effects of partners' behaviors, or to behavior outside of marital relationships. This study examined relations between unmarried partners' negative and positive behaviors during discussion of conflict and their HPA responses, including both main effects and cross-partner interactions. Emerging adult opposite-sex couples (n=199) participated in a 15-minute conflict discussion and afterward rated their behavior on 3 dimensions: conflictual, holding back, and supportive.

Refining the multisystem view of the stress response: coordination among cortisol, alpha-amylase, and subjective stress in response to relationship conflict.

This study investigated associations among young adults' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, autonomic nervous system activity, and subjective stress in response to interpersonal conflict to better characterize coordination across stress systems. Seven saliva samples were collected from 199 young adult opposite-sex couples before, during, and after they discussed an unresolved relationship conflict. Samples were later assayed for cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA).

Does Attachment Get Under the Skin? Adult Romantic Attachment and Cortisol Responses to Stress.

Although many studies indicate that people in low quality relationships are less healthy, precisely how relationships influence health remains unclear. We focus on one physiological pathway that may provide clues to understanding the link between relationships and health: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Evidence indicates that attachment processes in adult romantic relationships are associated with HPA responses to stress (assessed via cortisol levels).

Vitamin D supplementation and depression in the women's health initiative calcium and vitamin D trial.

While observational studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency increases risk of depression, few clinical trials have tested whether vitamin D supplementation affects the occurrence of depression symptoms. The authors evaluated the impact of daily supplementation with 400 IU of vitamin D(3) combined with 1,000 mg of elemental calcium on measures of depression in a randomized, double-blinded US trial comprising 36,282 postmenopausal women. The Burnam scale and current use of antidepressant medication were used to assess depressive symptoms at randomization (1995-2000).

The relationship between cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and cognitive bias in young women.

Both animal and human studies suggest that cognitive bias toward negative information, such as that observed in major depression, may arise through the interaction of cortisol (CORT) and norepinephrine (NE) within the amygdala. To date, there is no published account of the relationship between endogenous NE and CORT levels and cognitive bias. The present study examined salivary CORT and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), an indirect measure of NE, in relation to masked affective priming of words in young female participants.