Glucose Intolerance During Pregnancy, Pregnancy Related, Stress, Psychological
Conditions
Keywords
pregnancy, metabolism, stress, emotional state, diet, glycemic response
Brief summary
This study seeks to understand how a mother's emotional state in pregnancy influences her biological response to food intake.
Detailed description
The purpose of this research study is to understand how a mother's emotional state in pregnancy influences her biological response to food intake. Natural variation in emotional and mental state is frequently experienced in daily life, including during pregnancy. While the investigators understand that a healthy diet is important in pregnancy for maintaining blood sugar levels and other metabolic factors within normal ranges for optimal development of the baby, less consideration is given to the health effects of a mother's mental state during pregnancy. It may even be possible that, regardless of what a woman eats or drinks, the way her body responds to food may differ according to her emotional or mental state. This research is particularly interested in understanding how the combination of maternal emotional state and diet influence metabolism in pregnancy. Thus, the aim of this study is to test whether and how an individual's emotional response to a mental challenge of varying complexity during pregnancy modifies the body's metabolic response to a standard breakfast.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTrier Social Stress Test
Task instructions provided to subject (5mins), subject prepares speech on their strengths and weaknesses (5 mins), subject delivers speech before a stern evaluative committee while being video-taped (5 mins), subject completes a mental arithmetic challenge task before the evaluative committee with critiques if errors are made (5mins).
BEHAVIORALPlacebo Non-stress task
Subject engages in a friendly conversation about a neutral or happy topic (e.g. recent holiday, favorite past-times) for 15 minutes with a familiar research staff member.
Sponsors
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18-40 years * Hispanic ethnicity * English and/or Spanish speaking * Multiparous * 28-30 week's gestation * Pre-pregnancy BMI 25.0-34.9 kg/m2 * Singleton, intrauterine pregnancy * Non-smoker * Non-diabetic and negative result on routine prenatal glucose challenge test (GCT)
Exclusion criteria
* BMI \<25.0 or ≥35.0 kg/m2 * \>30 week's gestation * multiple pregnancy * nulliparous * present/prior obstetric risk conditions (hypertension, preeclampsia, infections, placental abnormalities) * current smoker * current psychiatric disorders or undergoing treatment/taking psychiatric medications * Use of systemic/frequent corticosteroids or thyroid meds * Diabetic or presence of other metabolic or neuroendocrine disorders
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Difference in the glycemic response to the standardized meal +/- psychosocial challenge task | 2 hours | Glycemic response (area-under-the-curve of glucose) to the standardized breakfast drink following exposure to either the psychosocial challenge (TSST) or non-challenge (placebo-TSST) task. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Difference in the triglyceride response to the standardized meal +/- psychosocial challenge task | 2 hours | Area under the curve of blood triglycerides to the standardized breakfast drink following exposure to either the psychosocial challenge (TSST) or non-challenge (placebo-TSST) task. |
| Physiological stress response to the psychosocial challenge task | 2 hours | Area under the curve of salivary cortisol following exposure to the psychosocial challenge task |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed