Laura R Stroud | Brown University (original) (raw)

Papers by Laura R Stroud

Rhode Island medical journal, 2020

INTRODUCTION Rates of marijuana use in Rhode Island (RI) exceed the national average; prevalence ... more INTRODUCTION Rates of marijuana use in Rhode Island (RI) exceed the national average; prevalence during preconception and characteristics of users remain unknown. METHODS Prevalence of marijuana use in the 3 months preconception was assessed by a RI-based telephone survey of a diverse, low-income sample of pregnant women (n=1683). Sociodemographic characteristics, substance use, and mental health were compared between preconception marijuana users, tobacco users and non-users. RESULTS 25.1% of respondents reported using marijuana during preconception. Marijuana users were younger, poorer, and less educated than non-users (ps<0.001) and more likely to report alcohol use and mental illness (ps<0.001). Marijuana users were younger with fewer children than tobacco-only users (ps<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Rates of preconception marijuana use in RI exceed national rates of prenatal use. Preconception marijuana users have a distinct sociodemographic profile, with higher rates of concurr...

Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 2016

Poor sleep in pregnancy is related to adverse neonatal health. Elevated maternal cortisol has bee... more Poor sleep in pregnancy is related to adverse neonatal health. Elevated maternal cortisol has been proposed as a pathway, yet the association in pregnancy is not well understood. The goals of the current study were to examine associations between (a) sleep and cortisol, (b) sleep, cortisol, and neonatal outcomes, and (c) variables that could explain these associations. Two hundred pregnant women completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, &amp;amp; Kupfer, 1989) and provided diurnal salivary cortisol samples at two times over pregnancy. Poor sleep quality was associated with greater evening cortisol concentrations at 36 weeks&amp;#39; gestation. This association was mediated by anxiety symptoms. Higher evening cortisol at 36 weeks&amp;#39; gestation was associated with shorter gestation.

Maternal & Child Nutrition, 2016

Maternal weight before and during pregnancy is associated with offspring neurobehaviour in childh... more Maternal weight before and during pregnancy is associated with offspring neurobehaviour in childhood. We investigated maternal weight prior to and during pregnancy in relation to neonatal neurobehaviour. We hypothesized that maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain would be associated with poor neonatal attention and affective functioning. Participants (n = 261) were recruited, weighed and interviewed during their third trimester of pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy weight was self-reported and validated for 210 participants, with robust agreement with medical chart review (r = 0.99). Neurobehaviour was measured with the NICU Network Neurobehavioural Scale (NNNS) administered on Days 2 and 32 postpartum. Maternal exclusion criteria included severe or persistent physical or mental health conditions (e.g. chronic disease or diagnoses of Bipolar Disorder or Psychotic Spectrum Disorders), excessive substance use, and social service/foster care involvement or difficulty understanding English. Infants were from singleton, full-term (37-42 weeks gestation) births with no major medical concerns. Outcome variables were summary scores on the NNNS (n = 75-86). For women obese prior to pregnancy, those gaining in excess of Institute of Medicine guidelines had infants with poorer regulation, lower arousal and higher lethargy. There were no main effects of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index on neurobehaviour. Women gaining above Institute of Medicine recommendations had neonates with better quality of movement. Additional studies to replicate and extend results past the neonatal period are needed. Results could support underlying mechanisms explaining associations between maternal perinatal weight and offspring outcomes. These mechanisms may inform future prevention/intervention strategies. © 2016 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Stress, 2016

Efforts to define hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis profiles conferring risk for psychopa... more Efforts to define hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis profiles conferring risk for psychopathology have yielded inconclusive results, perhaps in part due to limited assessment of the stress response. In particular, research has typically focused on HPA responses to performance tasks, while neglecting the interpersonal stressors that become salient during adolescence. In this study we investigated links between psychosocial adjustment-youth internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as competence-and HPA responses to both performance and interpersonal stressors in a normative sample of children and adolescents. Participants (n = 59) completed a set of performance (public speaking, mental arithmetic, mirror tracing) and/or interpersonal (peer rejection) tasks and gave 9 saliva samples, which were assayed for cortisol. Hierarchical linear models of cortisol response trajectories in relation to CBCL scores revealed stressor- and sex-specific associations. Whereas internalizing problems related to earlier peaking, less dynamic cortisol responses to interpersonal stress (across males and females), externalizing problems related to lower, earlier peaking, and less dynamic cortisol responses to performance stress for males only, and competence related to later peaking cortisol responses to interpersonal stress for females only. Implications for understanding contextual stress profiles underlying different forms of psychopathology are discussed.

Psychological Bulletin, Mar 1, 2003

This transdisciplinary review of the literature addresses the questions, Do stress and negative a... more This transdisciplinary review of the literature addresses the questions, Do stress and negative affect (NA) promote smoking? and Does smoking genuinely relieve stress and NA? Drawing on both human and animal literatures, the authors examine these questions across three developmental stages of smokinginitiation, maintenance, and relapse. Methodological and conceptual distinctions relating to within-and between-subjects levels of analyses are emphasized throughout the review. Potential mechanisms underlying links between stress and NA and smoking are also reviewed. Relative to direct-effect explanations, the authors argue that contextual mediator-moderator approaches hold greater potential for elucidating complex associations between NA and stress and smoking. The authors conclude with recommendations for research initiatives that draw on more sophisticated theories and methodologies.

Child development, 2016

Epigenetic regulation of the placental glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) was investigated as a... more Epigenetic regulation of the placental glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) was investigated as a mechanism underlying links between maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) and infant neurobehavior in 45 mother-infant pairs (49% MSDP-exposed; 52% minorities; ages 18-35). The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Network Neurobehavioral Scale was administered 7 times over the 1st postnatal month; methylation of placental NR3C1 was assessed via bisulfite pyrosequencing. Increased placental NR3C1 methylation was associated with increased infant attention and self-regulation, and decreased lethargy and need for examiner soothing over the 1st postnatal month. A causal steps approach revealed that NR3C1 methylation and MSDP were independently associated with lethargic behavior. Although preliminary, results highlight the importance of epigenetic mechanisms in elucidating pathways to neurobehavioral alterations from MSDP.

Circulation, Mar 13, 2012

Clinical Therapeutics, 2015

Low maternal socioeconomic position (SEP) has been associated with adverse neonatal outcomes, inc... more Low maternal socioeconomic position (SEP) has been associated with adverse neonatal outcomes, including preterm birth, low birthweight, intrauterine growth restriction, and infant mortality. A key biological mechanism that has been proposed to explain this association is hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity, yet the association between SEP and HPA activity in pregnancy has received little attention. In this study we aimed to examine the associations between SEP and 2 forms of maternal cortisol regulation-diurnal slope and wakening response-across pregnancy. Furthermore, we aimed to assess whether these associations differed by the sex of the fetus. A total of 217 pregnant women aged 18 to 40 years with singleton pregnancies participated. Women were excluded from participating if they were aged &amp;lt;18 or &amp;gt;40 years and if they were at risk for maternal or obstetric complications. Women provided information on socioeconomic characteristics of adults contributing to the participants&amp;#39; household to compute a Hollingshead Four Factor Index of Social Status score of SEP. Women provided salivary cortisol samples on awakening, 30 minutes after wakeup, and at bedtime, at 3 times over pregnancy and once 30 days postpartum to calculate the diurnal slope and cortisol awakening response (CAR). Using linear regression analyses, we examined the relationships between maternal SEP and maternal diurnal slope and CAR. We explored the relationships between maternal SEP and cortisol by fetal sex using linear regression analyses. We also explored links between maternal SEP, maternal cortisol, and infant birth outcomes. Women of lower SEP displayed smaller awakening responses and less change over the day compared with women of higher SEP. SEP was significantly associated with attenuated diurnal slope only among women carrying female fetuses, whereas for CAR, the association between SEP and attenuated CAR was significant only for women carrying male fetuses. Lower SEP was associated with decreased birthweight, and this association was partially explained by maternal HPA activity in pregnancy. Women of low SEP displayed attenuated HPA activity across the perinatal period, and patterns varied by fetal sex and cortisol metric. Findings are in need of replication. More research is needed to understand the links between SEP, HPA activity, and neonatal health.

Child psychiatry and human development, Jan 14, 2015

Heightened emotional reactivity to peer feedback is predictive of adolescents' depression ris... more Heightened emotional reactivity to peer feedback is predictive of adolescents' depression risk. Examining variation in emotional reactivity within currently depressed adolescents may identify subgroups that struggle the most with these daily interactions. We tested whether trait rumination, which amplifies emotional reactions, explained variance in depressed adolescents' physiological reactivity to peer feedback, hypothesizing that rumination would be associated with greater pupillary response to peer rejection and diminished response to peer acceptance. Twenty currently depressed adolescents (12-17) completed a virtual peer interaction paradigm where they received fictitious rejection and acceptance feedback. Pupillary response provided a time-sensitive index of physiological arousal. Rumination was associated with greater initial pupil dilation to both peer rejection and acceptance, and diminished late pupillary response to peer acceptance trials only. Results indicate tha...

Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2015

Developing autonomy and maintaining relatedness within the parent-adolescent relationship marks a... more Developing autonomy and maintaining relatedness within the parent-adolescent relationship marks a realignment process that shifts adolescents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; decision making and regulation from parents to youth. This process may be stressful for some adolescents, particularly those who perceive their daily lives as stressful. This study examined the associations of autonomy, relatedness and perceived stress with adolescents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; cortisol and blood pressure response to conflict in a mother-adolescent interaction task among 100 adolescents (M age = 15.09; 68 % girls, 78 % Caucasian). Few direct associations were found, but results indicated that perceived stress moderated the effect of autonomy and relatedness such that youth who reported more perceived stress and whose mothers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; restricted their autonomy and undermined their relatedness evidenced increased cortisol and systolic blood pressure when compared to youth lower in perceived stress. The results highlight the importance of examining individual differences in the association between normative developmental transitions and adolescents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; neurobiological response to stress.

Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2011

Consistent sex differences in regulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis ... more Consistent sex differences in regulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis have been shown in animal models and emerge over puberty. However, parallel work in humans is lacking despite implications for elucidating the emergence of sex differences in depression over puberty. We investigated sex differences in HPA response to corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) challenge over puberty in a carefully screened normative sample. Participants were 68 healthy children (41% girls), ages 6-16, with no personal or family history of psychiatric disorder. Pubertal maturation was determined by Tanner staging. Following 24h of adaptation, 9-10 plasma cortisol samples were collected over 30-40 min pre-infusion baseline, 1 μg/kg CRH infusion, and 90-180 min post-infusion recovery. Thirty-seven participants completed 2+ CRH challenges allowing inclusion of cross-sectional and longitudinal data in all analyses. The influence of gender and pubertal maturation on parameters of co...

Addictive Behaviors, 2015

Smoking cessation during pregnancy may reflect maternal altruism towards the fetus.

Community practitioner : the journal of the Community Practitioners' & Health Visitors' Association, 2014

This qualitative study aimed to investigate maternal and infant health needs within Eastern Europ... more This qualitative study aimed to investigate maternal and infant health needs within Eastern European populations in Bradford. Evidence suggested that migrants from Eastern Europe had poor maternal and child health and increased rates of infant mortality. Health visitors, community midwives and specialist voluntary workers were involved. Eleven interviews took place. They were semi-structured and analysed using a thematic approach. A number of health needs were identified in Eastern European populations, including high rates of smoking and poor diet. Wider determinants of health such as poverty and poor housing were cited as commonplace for Eastern European migrants. There were numerous cultural barriers to health, such as discrimination, mobility, cultural practices regarding age at pregnancy, and disempowerment of women. Lastly, access to health services was identified as a significant issue and this was impacting on staff working with this population. This study demonstrated the c...

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2012

We developed an ecologically valid virtual peer interaction paradigmthe Chatroom Interact Task in... more We developed an ecologically valid virtual peer interaction paradigmthe Chatroom Interact Task in which 60 pre-adolescents and adolescents (ages 9-17 years) were led to believe that they were interacting with other youth in a simulated internet chatroom. Youth received rejection and acceptance feedback from virtual peers. Findings revealed increased pupil dilation, an index of increased activity in cognitive and affective processing regions of the brain, to rejection compared to acceptance trials, which was greater for older youth. Data from a cell-phone Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) protocol completed following the task indicated that increased pupillary reactivity to rejection trials was associated with lower feelings of social connectedness with peers in daily life. Eyetracking analyses revealed attentional biases toward acceptance feedback and away from rejection feedback. Biases toward acceptance feedback were stronger for older youth. Avoidance of rejection feedback was strongest among youth with increased pupillary reactivity to rejection, even in the seconds leading up to and following rejection feedback. These findings suggest that adolescents are sensitive to rejection feedback and seek to anticipate and avoid attending to rejection stimuli. Furthermore, the salience of social rejection and acceptance feedback appears to increase during adolescence.

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2013

Sensitivity to social evaluation has been proposed as a potential marker or risk factor for depre... more Sensitivity to social evaluation has been proposed as a potential marker or risk factor for depression, and has also been theorized to increase with pubertal maturation. This study utilized an ecologically valid paradigm to test the hypothesis that adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) would show altered reactivity to peer rejection and acceptance relative to healthy controls in a network of ventral brain regions implicated in affective processing of social information. 48 adolescents (ages 11-17), including 21 with a current diagnosis of MDD and 27 age-and gender-matched controls, received rigged acceptance and rejection feedback from fictitious peers during a simulated online peer interaction during functional neuroimaging. MDD youth showed increased activation to rejection relative to controls in the bilateral amygdala, subgenual anterior cingulate, left anterior insula, and left nucleus accumbens. MDD and healthy youth did not differ in response to acceptance. Youth more advanced in pubertal maturation also showed increased reactivity to rejection in the bilateral amygdala/parahippocampal gyrus and the caudate/subgenual anterior cingulate, and these effects remained significant when controlling for chronological age. Findings suggest that increased reactivity to peer rejection is a normative developmental process associated with pubertal development, but is particularly enhanced among youth with depression.

Psychological Bulletin, 2003

Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2014

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is one of the most preventable causes of infant morbidity and ... more Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is one of the most preventable causes of infant morbidity and mortality, yet 80 % of women who smoked prior to pregnancy continue to smoke during pregnancy. Past studies have found that lower maternal-fetal attachment predicts smoking status in pregnancy, yet past research has not examined whether maternal-fetal attachment predicts patterns or quantity of smoking among pregnant smokers. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal-fetal attachment and patterns of maternal smoking among pregnant smokers. We used self-reported and biochemical markers of cigarette smoking in order to better understand how maternal-fetal attachment relates to the degree of fetal exposure to nicotine. Fifty-eight pregnant smokers participated in the current study. Women completed the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale, reported weekly smoking behaviors throughout pregnancy using the Timeline Follow Back interview, and provided a saliva sample at 30 and 35 weeks gestation and 1 day postpartum to measure salivary cotinine concentrations. Lower maternal-fetal attachment scores were associated with higher salivary cotinine at 30 weeks gestation and 1 day postpartum. As well, women who reported lower fetal attachment reported smoking a greater maximum number of cigarettes per day, on average, over pregnancy. Lower maternal-fetal attachment is associated with greater smoking in pregnancy. Future research might explore whether successful smoking cessation programs improve maternal assessments of attachment to their infants.

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2006

ABSTRACT To advance our understanding of how biological and behavioral processes interact to dete... more ABSTRACT To advance our understanding of how biological and behavioral processes interact to determine risk or resilience, theorists suggest that social developmental models will need to include multiple measurements of stress-related biological processes. Identified in the early 1990s as a surrogate marker of the sympathetic nervous system component of the stress response, salivary-amylase has not been employed to test biosocial models of stress vulnerability in the context of child development until now. In this report, we describe a standard assay that behavioral scientists can use to improve the next generation of studies and specific recommendations about sample collection, preparation, and storage are presented. More importantly, four studies are presented with mother–infant dyads (N= 86), preschoolers (N= 54), children (N = 54), and adolescents (N = 29) to illustrate individual differences in stress-related change in α-amylase levels, that patterns of α-amylase stress reactivity distinctly differ from those measured by salivary cortisol, and associations between individual differences in α-amylase and social relationships, health, negative affectivity, cognitive/academic/behavior problems, and cardiovascular reactivity. We conclude that the integration of measurements of the adrenergic component of the locus ceruleus/autonomic (sympathetic) nervous system, as indexed by salivary α-amylase, into the study of biosocial relationships may extend our understanding of child health and development to new limits.

Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 2005

Early Life Stress (ELS) has been associated with a range of adverse outcomes in adults, including... more Early Life Stress (ELS) has been associated with a range of adverse outcomes in adults, including abnormalities in electrical brain activity [1], personality dimensions , increased vulnerability to substance abuse and depression . The present study seeks to quantify these proposed effects in a large sample of non-clinical subjects. Data for the study was obtained from The Brain Resource International Database (six laboratories: two in USA, two in Europe, two in Australia). This study analyzed scalp electrophysiological data (EEG eyes open, closed and target auditory oddball data) and personality (NEO-FFI), history of addictive substance use and ELS) data that was acquired from 740 healthy volunteers. The ELS measures were collected via a self-report measure and covered a broad range of events from childhood sexual and physical abuse, to firsthand experience of traumatizing accidents and sustained domestic conflict . Analysis of covariance, controlling for age and gender, compared EEG data from subjects exposed to ELS with those who were unexposed. ELS was associated with significantly decreased power across the EEG spectrum. The between group differences were strongest in the eyes closed paradigm, where subjects who experienced ELS showed significantly reduced beta (F 1,405 = 12.37, p = .000), theta (F 1,405 = 20.48, p = .000), alpha (F 1,405 = 9.65, p = .002) and delta power (F 1,450 = 36.22, p = .000). ELS exposed subjects also showed a significantly higher alpha peak frequency (F 1,405 = 6.39, p = .012) in the eyes closed paradigm. Analysis of covariance on ERP components revealed that subjects who experienced ELS had significantly decreased N2 amplitude (F 1,405 = 7.73, p = .006). Analyses of variance conducted on measures of personality revealed that subjects who experienced ELS had significantly higher levels of neuroticism (F 1,264 = 13.39, p = .000) and openness (F 1,264 = 17.11, p = .000), but lower levels of conscientiousness, than controls (F 1,264 = 4.08, p = .044). The number of ELS events experienced was shown to be a significant predictor of scores on the DASS questionnaire , which rates subjects on symptoms of depression (F 3,688 = 16.44, p = .000, R 2 = .07), anxiety (F 3,688 = 14.32, p = .000, R 2 = .06) and stress (F 3,688 = 20.02, p = .000, R 2 = .08). Each additional early life stressor was associated with an increase in these scores independent of age, gender and the type of stressor. Furthermore, the number of ELS experiences among smokers was also found to be a positive predictor of the nicotine dependency score (Faegstrom Test For Nicotine Dependence, [19]) (F 3,104 = 10.99, p = .000, R 2 = .24), independent of age, gender and type of stressor. In conclusion, we highlight the impact of a history of ELS showed significant effects on brain function (EEG and ERP activity), personality dimensions and nicotine dependence.

Journal of Health Organisation and Management, 2005

To explore the issues surrounding the falling rates of MMR vaccination followingthe publication o... more To explore the issues surrounding the falling rates of MMR vaccination followingthe publication of a controversial study by Wakefield et al. In order to take a fresh look at the MMR crisis, theGreek tragedy, Antigone, was used as a &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;strong plot&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; to de-contextualise the underlying social and political issues. In this short paper, two themes are explored that emerge from reading Antigone with respect to the unfolding crisis of public confidence in the MMR vaccine: first, the challenge to government inthe form of a decrease in public trust in government and government policies; and second, how such a challenge assumes significance and, arising from that, the question of how one might respond to the challenge. The MMR debate throws issues of importance to society into relief--for example,public trust in government and science; and notions of public good versus rational choice in public policy on vaccination, However, much of the debate has been polarised into good versus evil--good and evil being subjective positions that are interchangeable, depending on the side one favours. It is argued that the issues are more complex than this, and are as much to do with political consent and the bargain between citizen and state. Using &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;strong plots&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; to theorise about current issues is powerful because it allows one to explore them from different angles and challenge one&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s understanding. Antigone provides us with a way of standing back from the MMR crisis and re-conceptualising the issues to capture the essence of the underlying debate.