As a developmental psychologist, my research centers on understanding the origins of human development, the interface between individual differences in development and physiology, and the implications of the prenatal period for postnatal life. My current research program, which has been ongoing for the last 17 years, extends this interest to the human fetus. We use computerized assessment methods of measuring fetal neurobehavioral functioning to investigate the ontogeny of development with the ultimate goal of predicting clinical and developmental outcome from the fetal period. Within this context, we are further exploring the role of maternal factors, including poverty and psychologic stress, in mediating fetal development.

Child development, Infant development, Fetal development, Population and Family Health Sciences, Pregnancy, Women, Prenatal, Perinatal, Fetus, Fetal heart rate, Fetal movement, Infant, Infancy, Stress, Maternal stress, Maternal physiology, Temperament, Developmental psychology, Psychophysiology, Behavior and Health

Selected (since 2000)

DiPietro, J.A., Ghera, M.M., & Costigan, K.A. (in press). Prenatal origins of temperamental reactivity in early infancy. Early Human Development.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K.A., Nelson, P., Gurewitsch, E., & Laudenslager, M. (2008). Fetal responses to maternal relaxation. Biological Psychology, 77, 11-19.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K.A., & Sipsma, H. (2008). Continuity in self-report measures of maternal anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms from pregnancy through two years postpartum. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 29, 115-124.

Jansson, L. M., DiPietro, J.A., Velez, M., Elko, A., Knaeur, H., Kivlighan, K. (in press) Maternal methadone dosing schedule affects fetal neurobehaviors.

DiPietro, J.A., Bornstein, M.H., Hahn, C.S., Costigan, K.A., & Achy-Brou, A. (2007). Fetal heart rate and variability: Stability and prediction to developmental outcomes in early childhood. Child Development, 78, 1788-1798.

Jansson, L.J., DiPietro, J.A., Elko, A., Velez, M. (2007). Maternal vagal tone change in response to methadone predicts neonatal abstinence syndrome severity in exposed neonates. Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 20, 677-685.

Witter, F., DiPietro, J. A., Costigan, K. A., Nelson, P (2007). The relationship between hiccups and heart rate in the fetus. Journal of Maternal-fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 20, 289-292.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K.A., Cristofalo, E.A., Lu, Y., Bird, C.W., McShane, C.A., & Crino, J. (2006). Choroid plexus cysts do not affect fetal neurobehavioral development. Journal of Perinatology, 26, 622-627.

DiPietro, J.A , Caulfield, L.E., Irizarry, R., Chen, P., Merialidi, M., & Zavaleta, N. (2006). Prenatal development of intrafetal and maternal-fetal synchrony. Behavioral Neuroscience, 120, 687-701.

DiPietro, J.A., M.F. Novak, Costigan, K.A., Atella, L. D., Reusing, S. P. (2006) Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy in relation to child development at age 2. Child Development, 77, 573-587.

DiPietro, J.A. Neurobehavioral assessment before birth. (2005). Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 11, 4-13.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K.A., & Gurewitsch, E.D. (2005). Maternal psychophysiological change during the second half of pregnancy. Biological Psychology, 69, 23-38.

Jansson, L.M., DiPietro, J.A., & Elko, A. (2005). Fetal response to maternal methadone administration. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 193, 611-617.

DiPietro, J.A., Ghera, M., Costigan, K. A., & Hawkins, M. (2004). Measuring the ups and downs of pregnancy stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 25, 189-201.

DiPietro, J.A., Irizarry, R., Costigan, K.A., & Gurewitsch, E. (2004). The psychophysiology of the maternal-fetal relationship. Psychophysiology, 41, 510-520.

DiPietro, J.A., Caulfield, L.E., Costigan, K.A., Merialdi, M., Nguyen, R.H., Zavaleta, N., & Gurewitsch, E.D. (2004). Fetal neurobehavioral development: A tale of two cities. Developmental Psychology, 40, 445-456.

DiPietro, J.A. (2004). The role of prenatal maternal stress in child development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 71-74.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K.A. & Gurewitsch, E. (2003). Fetal response to induced maternal stress. Early Human Development, 74, 125-138.

Oberlander, T. & DiPietro, J.A. Does maternal depression harm the fetus? (2003). Psychiatric Times, 20 (6) 45–48.

Bornstein, M.H., DiPietro, J.A., Hahn, C.S., Painter, K., Haynes, O. M. & Costigan, K.A. (2002). Prenatal cardiac function and postnatal cognitive development: An exploratory study. Infancy, 3, 475-494.

DiPietro, J.A., Hilton, S., Hawkins, M., Costigan, K.A., & Pressman, E.K. (2002). Maternal stress and affect influence fetal development. Developmental Psychology, 38, 659-668.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K. A., & Pressman, E.K. (2002). Fetal state concordance predicts infant state regulation. Early Human Development, 68, 1-13.

DiPietro, J.A., Bornstein, M. H., Costigan, K., Pressman, E., Hahn, C.S., Painter, K., Smith, B. & Yi, L. (2002). What does fetal movement predict about behavior during the first two years of life? Developmental Psychobiology, 40, 358-371.

DiPietro, J.A., Irizarry, R., Hawkins, M., Costigan, K. & Pressman, E. (2001). Cross-correlation of fetal cardiac-somatic activity as an indicator of antenatal neural development. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 185, 1421-1428.

DiPietro, J.A., Costigan, K.C., Pressman, E.K. & Doussard-Roosevelt, J. (2000). Antenatal origins of individual differences in heart rate. Developmental Psychobiology, 37, 221-228.

DiPietro, J.A. (2000). Baby and the brain: Advances in child development. Annual Review of Public Health, 21, 455-471.