Resume

• 2017

  Jennifer

  Hahn-Holbrook

  University of California

  Merced

  Chapman University

  UCLA

  Latch Lab

  In the LATCH lab we study how biology

  technology and culture shape the health of children and their families.

  Latch Lab

  Assistant Professor

  Chapman University

  Postdoctoral Fellow

  NIH-Sponsored Fellowship in Health Psychology at UCLA.

  UCLA

  University of California

  Merced

  Chancellors Award for Excellence is Postdoctoral Research

  UCLA

• 2006

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

  Queen's University Belfast

• 2000

  Bachelor's degree

  Psychology

  University of California

  Santa Cruz

  Leland

• 29

  Three decades of research point to both biological and psychological risk factors for postpartum depression

  but very little research integrates the two. This study bridged this gap by testing whether prenatal social support predicted depressive symptoms at 8 weeks postpartum in a multiethnic sample of 210 women and whether the stress hormone placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH)

  measured at 19

  and 37 weeks' gestation

  mediated this relationship. We found that prenatal family support predicted significantly fewer depressive symptoms postpartum and more gradual increases in pCRH from 29 to 37 weeks' gestation. Furthermore

  steeper increases in pCRH during this same period predicted more depressive symptoms postpartum. Finally

  these changes in pCRH in late pregnancy mediated the relationship between prenatal family support and postpartum depressive symptoms. These results suggest that social and biological risk factors for postpartum depressive symptoms are intertwined and move us closer to an integrated biopsychosocial understanding of postpartum depression.

  Placental Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Mediates the Association Between Prenatal Social Support and Postpartum Depression

  Postpartum depression (PPD) adversely affects the health and well being of many \nnew mothers

  their infants

  and their families. A comprehensive understanding of \nbiopsychosocial precursors to PPD is needed to solidify the current evidence base for best \npractices in translation. We conducted a systematic review of research published from 2000 \nthrough 2013 on biological and psychosocial factors associated with PPD and postpartum \ndepressive symptoms. Two hundred fourteen publications based on 199 investigations of \n151

  651 women in the first postpartum year met inclusion criteria. The biological and \npsychosocial literatures are largely distinct

  and few studies provide integrative analyses. \nThe strongest PPD risk predictors among biological processes are hypothalamic-pituitary-\nadrenal dysregulation

  inflammatory processes

  and genetic vulnerabilities.

  Biological and psychosocial predictors of postpartum depression: systematic review and call for integration

  Maternal Defense: Breast Feeding Increases Aggression by Reducing Stress

  Mothers in numerous species exhibit heightened aggression in defense of their young. This shift typically coincides with the duration of lactation in nonhuman mammals

  which suggests that human mothers may display similarly accentuated aggressiveness while breast feeding. Here we report the first behavioral evidence for heightened aggression in lactating humans. Breast-feeding mothers inflicted louder and longer punitive sound bursts on unduly aggressive confederates than did formula-feeding mothers or women who had never been pregnant. Maternal aggression in other mammals is thought to be facilitated by the buffering effect of lactation on stress responses. Consistent with the animal literature

  our results showed that while lactating women were aggressing

  they exhibited lower systolic blood pressure than did formula-feeding or never-pregnant women while they were aggressing. Mediation analyses indicated that reduced arousal during lactation may disinhibit female aggression. Together

  our results highlight the contributions of breast feeding to both protecting infants and buffering maternal stress.

  Maternal Defense: Breast Feeding Increases Aggression by Reducing Stress

  Hahn-Holbrook

• Is Postpartum Depression a Disease of Modern Civilization?

  In the current issue of The New Yorker

  Elizabeth Kolbert describes her family's brief and not-entirely-successful experiment with the Paleolith...

  Is Postpartum Depression a Disease of Modern Civilization?

  Stress hormone foreshadows postpartum depression in new mothers

  Women who receive strong social support from their families during pregnancy appear to be protected from sharp increases in a particular stress hormone

  making them less likely to develop postpartum depression

  according to a new study.

  Data Analysis

  University Teaching

  Psychology

  Research Design

  Grant Writing

  Report Writing

  Health Psychology

  Statistics

  Mentoring

  Biomarkers

  Quantitative Research

  Cortisol In Human Milk Predicts Child BMI

  Breastfeeding has been linked to lower rates of childhood obesity. Human milk contains cortisol

  known to regulate glucose storage and metabolism. The aim of this study was to to test the hypothesis that early exposure to cortisol in human breast milk helps to modulate infant body mass index (BMI) trajectories over the first 2 years of life.

  Cortisol In Human Milk Predicts Child BMI