The Impact of Prenatal Stressful Life Events on Adverse Birth Outcomes:a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Although many studies have investigated the association between stress and risk of dementia, findings are inconsistent due to the variation in the measures used to assess stress. Objective: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between psychological stress (including neuroticism, stressful life events, and perceived stress) and the risk of incident dementia and mild cognitive impairment in adults. Methods: PsycINFO, Embase, and MEDLINE were searched to October 2020 for eligible observational, prospective studies. Of the 1,607 studies screened, 26 (24 unique cohorts) were included in the qualitative analysis and 16 (15 unique cohorts) were included in the quantitative analysis. Results: Across studies, higher perceived stress was significantly associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment (Cases/Total N = 207/860: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03–1.38) and all-cause dementia (Cases/Total N = 203/1,882: HR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.07–1.95). Exposure to two or more stressful life events (versus none) was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia (Cases/Total N = 3,354/11,597: HR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.14–2.60), while one or more stressful life events was not. Higher neuroticism was significantly associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease dementia (Cases/Total N = 497/4,771: HR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01–1.12), but not all-cause dementia. Conclusion: This review suggests that psychological stress in adulthood is associated with an increased risk of dementia. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying these associations.

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Stressful life events and maltreatment in conversion (functional neurological) disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies

The Lancet Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30051-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 307-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 92

Author(s):

Lea Ludwig ◽

Joëlle A Pasman ◽

Timothy Nicholson ◽

Selma Aybek ◽

Anthony S David ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Life Events ◽

Neurological Disorder ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Case Control ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Case Control Studies ◽

Functional Neurological Disorder

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Stressful life events and maltreatment in conversion (functional neurological) disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.732833858.793544718 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andreas Hartmann ◽

Cécile Delorme

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Life Events ◽

Neurological Disorder ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Case Control ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Case Control Studies ◽

Functional Neurological Disorder

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Maternal Stressful Life Events During the Periconceptional Period and Orofacial Clefts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal ◽

10.1177/10556656211045553 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 105566562110455

Author(s):

Christina Tran ◽

Andrew A. Crawford ◽

Alexander Hamilton ◽

Clare E. French ◽

Yvonne Wren ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Life Events ◽

Cleft Lip ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Positive Association ◽

Population Level ◽

Risk Of Bias ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Periconceptional Period

Objective To assess whether women who experience stressful life events during the periconceptional period are at higher risk of giving birth to a baby with an orofacial cleft (OFC). Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting the proportion of babies born with OFC to mothers exposed and unexposed to population-level or personal-level stressful life events during the periconceptional period. Six electronic databases were searched from inception to August 2020. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Odds ratios (ORs) for the odds of OFC in babies of exposed mothers relative to unexposed controls were extracted and/or calculated. Random effects meta-analysis was undertaken, stratified by cleft subtype. Results Of 12 eligible studies, 8 examined experience of personal events and 4 examined population-level events. Studies demonstrated low-moderate risk of bias and there was indication of publication bias. There was some evidence that personal stressful life events were associated with greater odds of cleft lip and/or palate (six studies, OR 1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16, 2.30, P = 0.001) and cleft palate only (six studies, OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.02, 2.06, P = 0.04). Population-level events were associated with higher odds of OFC in studies that did not specify subtype (three studies, OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.19, 2.25, P = 0.002), but subtype stratified analyses were underpowered. Heterogeneity was high. Conclusions Limited evidence indicated a weak positive association between maternal stressful life events during the periconceptional period and risk of OFC in the offspring, but further studies with greater consistency in research design are needed.

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The Impact of Stressful Life Events and Social Support on Drinking among Older Adults: A General Population Survey

The International Journal of Aging and Human Development ◽

10.2190/f6g4-xlv3-5kw6-vmba ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 99-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Karen M. Jennison

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Prolonged Exposure ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

National Sample ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Stress Buffering ◽

The Impact

This article is an analysis of stressful life events, the buffering hypothesis, and alcohol use in a national sample of 1,418 respondents 60 years of age and over. The results indicate that older adults who experience stressful losses are significantly more likely to drink excessively than those who have not experienced such losses or who have experienced them to a lesser extent. Increased drinking among older adults may therefore be a reaction to life circumstances in which alcohol represents an attempt to cope with traumatic loss, personal as well as within the kinship network. Supportive resources of spouse, family, friends, and church appear to have a stress-buffering effects that reduces the excessive-drinking response to life crisis. Data suggest, however, that older persons are vulnerable to the magnitude of losses experienced as they grow older and lose more of their family, friends, and peers. These stressors appear to seriously impact their drinking behavior and are not effectively buffered. Respondents report that drinking may increase during periods of prolonged exposure to emotionally depleting life change and loss, when supportive needs may exceed the capacities of personal and social support resources.

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Longitudinal investigation of the role of temperament and stressful life events in childhood anxiety

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579413000989 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 437-449 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Suzanne Broeren ◽

Carol Newall ◽

Helen F. Dodd ◽

Ruth Locker ◽

Jennifer L. Hudson

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Negative Life Events ◽

Childhood Anxiety ◽

Diagnostic Interview ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Positive Behavior ◽

Stressful Life ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe current study investigated the longitudinal relationships among behavioral inhibition (BI), life events, and anxiety in a sample of 102 BI children and 100 behaviorally uninhibited (BUI) children aged 3 to 4 years. Children's parents completed questionnaires on BI, stressful life events, and anxiety symptoms, and were administered a diagnostic interview three times in a 5-year period. In line with our hypotheses, negative life events, particularly negative behavior-dependent life events (i.e., life events that are related to the children's own behaviors), and the impact of negative life events were predictive of increases in subsequent anxiety symptoms, the likelihood of having an anxiety disorder, and increased number of anxiety diagnoses over the 5-year follow-up period. Experiencing more positive, behavior-independent life events decreased the risk of being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Furthermore, differences were found in life events between BI and BUI children. That is, BI children experienced fewer positive and specifically positive behavior-dependent life events, and the impact of these positive life events was also lower in BI children than in BUI children. However, BI did not interact with life events in the prediction of anxiety problems as hypothesized. Therefore, this study seems to indicate that BI and life events act as additive risk factors in the development of anxiety problems.

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