Effects of an App-Based Mindfulness Intervention during Pregnancy on the Infant’s Prenatal Androgen Exposure: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Abstract

Prenatal androgen exposure modulates the development of the brain, with lasting effects on its function and behavior over the infant’s life span. Environmental factors during pregnancy, in particular maternal stress, have been shown to influence the androgen load of the unborn child. We here addressed the research gap on whether a mindfulness intervention or a pregnancy education administered to pregnant women more affects the androgen exposure of the unborn child (quantified by the proxies of second-to-fourth digit length ratio (2D:4D) and anogenital distance assessed one year after delivery and at delivery, respectively). Moreover, we tested the mindfulness intervention’s effects on maternal perceived stress, anxiety, depressiveness, and mindfulness. Pregnant women (gestation weeks 8–14) were randomized to a 15-week app-based mindfulness-oriented intervention (N = 72) or a pregnancy education intervention (control condition; N = 74). The mindfulness-oriented group did not significantly differ from the pregnancy education group in infants’ 2D:4D or anogenital distance (partial η2 ≤ 0.01) or in maternal stress, anxiety, depressiveness, or mindfulness. However, the descriptive results indicate that across pregnancy, stress and anxiety decreased and mindfulness increased in both groups. Overall, this study did not show that the mindfulness intervention (relative to the pregnancy education) reduced the prenatal androgen exposure of the unborn children or improved the maternal outcomes significantly.