The impact of psychosocial stress on gestation length and pregnancy outcomes on the pacific island of Tutuila, Samoa

Darna L Dufour, PhD, Professor, Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder, is supervising a PhD student, Michaela Howells, in a study of the effects of psychosocial stress on gestation length and pregnancy outcome (birth weight and infant anthropometrics). The study is longitudinal and using fertility monitors to determine the most likely timing of ovulation, a biomarker of implantation, and multiple measure of psychosocial stress including Epstein-Barr virus antibodies, a questionnaire-based measure of status incongruence and a standardized questionnaire-based measure of psychosocial stress.