Adverse childhood experiences and lifetime adverse maternal outcomes (gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy) in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

Abstract

Purpose: Childhood adversity is associated with increased risk of adult disease, including type II diabetes and hypertension. However, little is known about potential associations between childhood adversity and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and ever experiencing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) in a cohort of Hispanic or Latina women.

Methods: We analyzed data from 2319 women from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos who had ever given birth to a liveborn infant. We fit separate logistic regression models accounting for sample weights to examine the association between ACEs and risk of GDM and HDP adjusting for Hispanic/Latino background, age at immigration to the United States, and education.

Results: Women who reported four or more ACEs did not show increased odds of GDM or HDP compared with those who reported three or fewer (GDM adjusted odds ratio: 0.8 [0.5, 1.3]; HDP adjusted OR: 1.0 [0.7, 1.5]).

Conclusions: Unlike previous research with majority non-Hispanic White cohorts, there was no association between ACEs and GDM or HDP. Future research should explore if this relationship varies by race/ethnicity in multiethnic cohorts.

Keywords: Childhood adversity; Gestational diabetes; Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.