About Us

Study Overview

Stress and stressful experiences happen in every pregnancy. We are studying how daily stressors and hassles as well as bigger stressors affect mothers and their babies during pregnancy and after the babies are born. We want to understand how stress changes during pregnancy (early, mid, late) and how women cope with that stress.

Reactions to stress happen in two ways—through thoughts and actions and how the body reacts. We will ask you questions about your thoughts and actions, and we will measure your body’s reaction to stress by examining stress hormones in your saliva.

Participants

We are recruiting women early in pregnancy (less than 20 weeks gestation) and who are between the ages of 18 and 34.

What do you do?

You will come to our offices 3 times during pregnancy and once when your baby is 6 months old. We will also schedule a home visit when your baby is 1 month old. At the office visits, you will answer some questions, provide saliva samples (spitting into a tube), and role-play a brief speech. You will also be asked to complete 2 days of saliva sampling at home after each interview. One important part of the study is filling out a brief online questionnaire about stress during each week of the pregnancy. Your confidentiality will be protected to the extent allowed by law. You can earn up to $980 in cash if you complete all study activities.

After your child's 6 month visit, you will be asked if you'd like to continue participating until your child is 4 years old.

Research Team

This study is a collaboration between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. It has been approved by both universities’ Institutional Review Boards. Funding for the study comes from the National Institute of Health. We would love for you to participate. Please see the contact information below.