# Understanding the contributions of stress reactivity to racial disparities in adverse placental and pregnancy outcomes

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $732,043

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
A growing number of studies has implicated maternal stress as an explanation for the higher burden of adverse
pregnancy outcomes (APOs) seen among non-Hispanic Black women compared with their non-Hispanic White
counterparts. Most studies that have explored the relationship between stress and APOs have focused solely
on prenatal exposure to stressors, but Black women are generally exposed to more stressors over the life
course than White women. Moreover, Black women may have more limited resources to cope with social
stressors, as well as be more likely to experience enduring stressors like racial and/or gender discrimination,
which may lead to dysregulated physiological and psychological responses to everyday stressors (i.e., stress
reactivity). Several studies have shown dysregulated cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and affective reactivity to
stressors is associated with increased CVD risk and other adverse health outcomes in non-pregnant
populations, but the impact of dysregulated stress reactivity on pregnancy outcomes remains poorly
understood. Thus, the overall goal of this study is to examine the impact of physiological and psychological
stress reactivity on adverse placental and pregnancy outcomes. We will use ecological momentary
assessments and intensive measurements of heart rate variability, blood pressure, salivary cortisol, and
positive and negative affect to generate personalized measures of how pregnant women respond to stressful
experiences in their daily lives. We will then examine associations of these measures with adverse placental
lesions and pregnancy outcomes. Finally, we will quantify the extent to which stress reactivity and exposure to
stressors during pregnancy account for racial disparities in these adverse outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10636347
- **Project number:** 1R01HL168409-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** William Adam Grobman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $732,043
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-04-19 → 2028-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10636347

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10636347, Understanding the contributions of stress reactivity to racial disparities in adverse placental and pregnancy outcomes (1R01HL168409-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10636347. Licensed CC0.

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