Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41381027›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental research2026

Prenatal exposure to heat stress and postpartum depressive symptoms in the MADRES cohort in urban Los Angeles.

Yuhong Hu, Noelle Pardo, Xiaoran Yang, Tingyu Yang, Yan Xu, Roxana Khalili, Aviva Wolf-Jacobs, Xinci Chen, Zhongzheng Niu, Claudia M Toledo-Corral and 7 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Yuhong HuDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Noelle PardoDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Xiaoran YangDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Tingyu YangDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Yan XuDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Roxana KhaliliDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Aviva Wolf-JacobsDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Xinci ChenDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Zhongzheng NiuDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Claudia M Toledo-CorralDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Health Sciences, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA.
Jill JohnstonDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health, Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Genevieve F DuntonDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sandrah P EckelDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Shohreh F FarzanDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Carrie BretonDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Rima HabreDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Theresa M BastainDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: bastain@usc.edu.

Funding

Translational Research Support CoreP30ES007048 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI ROB S MCCONNELL · 1996 to 2026
$46.4M
Lifecourse Approach to Developmental Repercussions of Environmental Agents on Metabolic and Respiratory Health (LA DREAMERs)UH3OD023287 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI BASTAIN, THERESA M, BRETON, CARRIE VAN DOREN · 2018 to 2022
$28.4M
Project 3: Maternal Exposure to Environmental Hazards and Psychosocial Stressors and Postpartum Allostatic LoadP50MD015705 · NIMHD · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI BRETON, CARRIE VAN DOREN · 2020 to 2024
$8.1M
Project 2: Environmental Exposures, Stress, and Maternal Pregnancy-Related Weight OutcomesP50ES026086 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI BASTAIN, THERESA M · 2015 to 2019
$3.7M
NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES007048NIEHS NIH HHS P50 ES026086NIH HHS UH3 OD023287NIMHD NIH HHS P50 MD015705
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While extreme temperatures have been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, the impact of prenatal heat stress on postpartum depression remains understudied. We evaluated associations between prenatal heat stress and depressive symptoms one year postpartum, identified susceptible gestational windows, and assessed whether neighborhood climate vulnerability modifies maternal susceptibility to heat-related postpartum depression. We included 275 predominantly low-income Hispanic/Latina participants in the MADRES cohort. Residential wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), is more reflective of physiological responses to heat stress compared to temperature alone, and was estimated throughout pregnancy at residential addresses. Depressive symptoms at 12 months postpartum were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. The Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) was linked at census tract level. We used multivariable linear regression to estimate associations between trimester-specific heat stress and log-transformed CES-D scores and examined effect modification by CVI (≥75th vs. <75th percentile). Distributed lag models (DLM) were used to identify susceptible exposure windows to WBGT, and Bayesian distributed lag interaction models (BDLIM) were used to assess differences in associations by CVI. We found that each interquartile range increase (IQR) in first-trimester WBGT was associated with a 18.93 % (95 % CI: 0.03 %-41.75 %) increase in postpartum CES-D scores. Neighborhood-level CVI modified second-trimester effects of heat stress on postpartum depressive symptoms, with participants in high-CVI neighborhoods experiencing stronger positive associations (31.21 %, 95 % CI: -11.80 %-95.21 %) compared to those in low-CVI neighborhoods (-16.70 %, 95 % CI: -32.29 %-3.55 %) for WBGT. These findings provide novel evidence linking early-pregnancy heat exposure to postpartum depression risk, with effects amplified in climate-vulnerable neighborhoods during mid-pregnancy. Our results suggest that heat mitigation strategies, including providing heat-health education during prenatal visits, may be important for postpartum mental health.

Indexed as

Depression, PostpartumHeat Stress DisordersHot TemperaturePrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsAdultCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLos AngelesPregnancyYoung AdultClimate vulnerabilityHeat stressPostpartum depressionPostpartum mental health

Identifiers

PMID41381027
PMCPMC12818964

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.