# Preconception stress exposure: Impact on pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopment

> **NIH NIH UH3** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $2,296,603

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease model, that the early life environment has widespread
consequences for later health, has been applied primarily to the role of prenatal stressors on offspring
outcomes. Despite compelling new evidence that vulnerable exposure windows occur prior to conception, very
little is known about the impact of preconception stress exposure on pregnancy health, the fetal environment,
or on offspring neurodevelopment. In response to RFA-OD-16-004 ‘Environmental Influences on Child Health
Outcomes (ECHO) Pediatric Cohorts’ (UG3/UH3), we propose to test the hypothesis that preconception
environmental stress exposure will predict deficits in offspring neurodevelopment via alterations in maternal
capacity to regulate stress during pregnancy. Furthermore, we contend that preconception nutrition status will
attenuate the negative effects of preconception stress exposure on offspring outcomes. The proposed study
will build on the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS), a longitudinal study of 2,450 urban-living young women for
whom the timing and chronicity of multiple stress exposures (e.g. housing and family stress, exposure to
violence) has been prospectively and robustly measured for the past 16 years spanning childhood through
early adulthood. The majority of PGS participants are from populations that are under-represented in research:
African-Americans and women from low-income environments. Biomarkers of preconception stress exposure
(i.e. immune and cardiometabolic function) and nutrition (i.e., vitamin D, fatty acids, iron, protein and folic acid)
will be assessed in early adulthood. PGS participants who become pregnant over the period of award (N ≈
800) will complete three psychophysiological assessments of stress regulation (e.g. intensity and recovery of
cortisol response) during pregnancy, and placental function will be assessed. Offspring neurodevelopment will
be assessed at 6, 15, 24 and 36 months with multi-modal measures (e.g., neural and behavioral measures of
executive function and stress reactivity). The first study aim is to elucidate the prospective associations
between preconception stress exposure and deficits in offspring neurodevelopment. The second aim is to
determine the extent to which prenatal stress regulation mediates this association. Our UG3 feasibility aims will
be carried out within the PGS infrastructure, thereby ensuring that methods established will translate
seamlessly to the proposed study. Our interdisciplinary team has expertise in every aspect of the proposed
study and includes long-standing, productive collaborations between investigators at the Universities of
Pittsburgh and Chicago, institutions that are extremely well-suited to support the proposed study. Achieving the
stated aims of the proposed study will contribute to the identification of prerequisites for optimal child health.
Furthermore, our prospective design for measuring prenatal stress regulation and off...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10240523
- **Project number:** 5UH3OD023244-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** ALISON E HIPWELL
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,296,603
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-21 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10240523

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10240523, Preconception stress exposure: Impact on pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopment (5UH3OD023244-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10240523. Licensed CC0.

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