Maternal prenatal distress can participate in the programming of offspring development, in which exposure to altered maternal long-term cortisol levels as measured by hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) may contribute. Yet, studies investigating whether and how maternal prenatal HCC associates with problems in child socioemotional development are scarce. Furthermore, questions remain regarding the timing and potential sex-specificity of fetal exposure to altered cortisol levels and whether there are interactions with maternal prenatal distress, such as depressive symptoms. The subjects were drawn from those FinnBrain Birth Cohort families that had maternal reports of child socioemotional problems (the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment [BITSEA] at 2 years and/or the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] at 5 years) as follows: HCC1 population: maternal mid-pregnancy HCC measured at gestational week 24 with 5 cm segments to depict cortisol levels from the previous five months (n = 321); and HCC2 population: end-of-pregnancy HCC measured 1–3 days after childbirth (5 cm segment; n = 121). Stepwise regression models were utilized in the main analyses and a sensitivity analysis was performed to detect potential biases. Negative associations were observed between maternal HCC2 and child BITSEA Total Problems at 2 years but not with SDQ Total difficulties at 5 years, and neither problem score was associated with HCC1. In descriptive analyses, HCC2 was negatively associated with Internalizing problems at 2 years and SDQ Emotional problems at 5 years. A negative association was observed among 5-year-old girls between maternal HCC1 and SDQ Total Difficulties and the subscales of Conduct and Hyperactivity/inattentive problems. When interactions were also considered, inverse associations between HCC2 and BITSEA Internalizing and Dysregulation Problems were observed in subjects with elevated prenatal depressive symptoms. It was somewhat surprising that only negative associations were observed between maternal HCC and child socioemotional problems. However, there are previous observations of elevated end-of-pregnancy cortisol levels associating with better developmental outcomes. The magnitudes of the observed associations were, as expected, mainly modest. Future studies with a focus on the individual changes of maternal cortisol levels throughout pregnancy as well as studies assessing both maternal and child HPA axis functioning together with child socioemotional development are indicated.

母亲的产前痛苦可以参与后代发育的规划，其中暴露于通过头发皮质醇浓度（HCC）测量的母亲长期皮质醇水平改变可能会起作用。然而，调查母亲产前 HCC 是否以及如何与儿童社会情感发展问题相关的研究却很少。此外，关于胎儿暴露于皮质醇水平变化的时间和潜在的性别特异性，以及是否与母亲产前痛苦（例如抑郁症状）存在相互作用，仍然存在疑问。受试者来自那些有母亲报告儿童社会情感问题的 FinnBrain 出生队列家庭（2 岁时的简短婴幼儿社会和情感评估 [BITSEA] 和/或 5 岁时的优势和困难问卷 [SDQ]）： HCC1 群体：在妊娠第 24 周测量的母亲妊娠中期 HCC，用 5 厘米分段来描述前五个月的皮质醇水平 (n = 321)；HCC2 人群：分娩后 1-3 天测量的妊娠末期 HCC（5 cm 段；n = 121）。主要分析中采用逐步回归模型，并进行敏感性分析以检测潜在偏差。在母亲 HCC2 和儿童 2 岁时的 BITSEA 总问题之间观察到负相关，但与 5 岁时的 SDQ 总问题之间没有负相关，并且这两个问题评分均与 HCC1 无关。在描述性分析中，HCC2 与 2 岁时的内化问题和 5 岁时的 SDQ 情绪问题呈负相关。在 5 岁女孩中，母亲 HCC1 和 SDQ 总困难与行为和多动/注意力不集中问题分量表之间存在负相关。当还考虑相互作用时，在产前抑郁症状升高的受试者中观察到 HCC2 和 BITSEA 内化和失调问题之间的负相关。令人有些惊讶的是，产妇 HCC 与儿童社会情绪问题之间仅观察到负相关。然而，之前的观察表明，妊娠末期皮质醇水平升高与更好的发育结果相关。正如预期的那样，观察到的关联程度基本上是适度的。未来的研究将重点关注整个怀孕期间母亲皮质醇水平的个体变化，以及评估母亲和儿童 HPA 轴功能以及儿童社会情绪发展的研究。