PSY BEH 137H Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Romanian Orphans, Psychopathology, 1994 Northridge Earthquake
13 Sep 2017
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Insults during gestation: hypoxia not enough o2 available, malnutrition. If there isn"t food for both mom and fetus, fetus redirects the nutrients in the blood flow to the placenta: fetus gets the food first, stress. How does stress reach the fetus: glucocorticords pass through the placenta. Interlocking fetal and maternal tissues: organ of exchange between mother and fetus, fetus learns a lesson, many glucocorticoids = stressful world, upregulation of glucocorticoid secretion, downregulation of glucocorticoid receptors. Does timing matter: studied 40 pregnant women exposed to the northridge earthquake, women rated how upsetting they found the earthquake to be. Looked at women in various stages of pregnant. Earthquake and appraisals: appraised the earthquake to be more stressful while in the first trimester. If stressor happens early in pregnancy, effects more dramatic: women had a shorter gestation length if the stressor occurs during the first trimester, post partum women saw very little effects among stress and gestational length.
