Soile Tuovinen1, Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen2, Polina Girchenko2, Kati Heinonen2, Jari Lahti2, Rebecca M Reynolds3, Esa Hämäläinen4, Pia M Villa5, Eero Kajantie6, Hannele Laivuori7, Katri Raikkonen2. 1. Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: soile.tuovinen@helsinki.fi. 2. Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland. 3. Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. 4. Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. 5. Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. 6. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; PEDEGO Research Unit, MRC Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. 7. Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tampere University Hospital and Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere, Finland.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Maternal antenatal stress, including symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress, is associated with mental and behavioral problems in children. Whether it is associated with child mental and behavioral disorders remains uncertain. We examined if maternal antenatal symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress were associated with mental and behavioral disorders in their children, if the associations varied according to gestational week, stress type, fluctuating or consistently high symptoms, and if they were driven by maternal or paternal lifetime mood or anxiety disorders. METHODS: 3365 mothers participating in the Prediction and Prevention of Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction (PREDO) study completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the State Anxiety Inventory and the Perceived Stress Scale up to 14 times throughout pregnancy. The Care Register for Health Care provided data on mental and behavioral (including neurodevelopmental) disorders for their children from birth (11/07/2006-07/24/2010) until 12/31/2016 and for parental lifetime mood and anxiety disorders until 12/31/2016. RESULTS: The hazard of any childhood mental and behavioral disorder (HR=1.91, 95% CI: 1.39-2.51) was significantly higher for children whose mothers reported consistently high in comparison to consistently low levels of all types of stress throughout pregnancy. The associations remained significant when adjusted for maternal and paternal lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (and their comorbidity and timing and mood disorder type). CONCLUSION: Maternal antenatal stress is associated with higher risk of childhood mental and behavioral disorders. Efforts to reduce maternal antenatal stress should be given a high priority to improve child mental health.
BACKGROUND: Maternal antenatal stress, including symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress, is associated with mental and behavioral problems in children. Whether it is associated with child mental and behavioral disorders remains uncertain. We examined if maternal antenatal symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress were associated with mental and behavioral disorders in their children, if the associations varied according to gestational week, stress type, fluctuating or consistently high symptoms, and if they were driven by maternal or paternal lifetime mood or anxiety disorders. METHODS: 3365 mothers participating in the Prediction and Prevention of Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction (PREDO) study completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the State Anxiety Inventory and the Perceived Stress Scale up to 14 times throughout pregnancy. The Care Register for Health Care provided data on mental and behavioral (including neurodevelopmental) disorders for their children from birth (11/07/2006-07/24/2010) until 12/31/2016 and for parental lifetime mood and anxiety disorders until 12/31/2016. RESULTS: The hazard of any childhood mental and behavioral disorder (HR=1.91, 95% CI: 1.39-2.51) was significantly higher for children whose mothers reported consistently high in comparison to consistently low levels of all types of stress throughout pregnancy. The associations remained significant when adjusted for maternal and paternal lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (and their comorbidity and timing and mood disorder type). CONCLUSION: Maternal antenatal stress is associated with higher risk of childhood mental and behavioral disorders. Efforts to reduce maternal antenatal stress should be given a high priority to improve child mental health.
Authors: Aino Airikka; Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen; Soile Tuovinen; Kati Heinonen; Jari Lahti; Polina Girchenko; Anna Lähdepuro; Riikka Pyhälä; Darina Czamara; Pia Villa; Hannele Laivuori; Eero Kajantie; Elisabeth B Binder; Katri Räikkönen Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2022-10-01 Impact factor: 5.349
Authors: Jo Evans; Amita Bansal; Danielle A J M Schoenaker; Nicolas Cherbuin; Michael J Peek; Deborah L Davis Journal: Environ Health Perspect Date: 2022-08-18 Impact factor: 11.035
Authors: Polina Girchenko; Rachel Robinson; Ville Juhani Rantalainen; Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen; Kati Heinonen-Tuomaala; Sakari Lemola; Dieter Wolke; Daniel Schnitzlein; Esa Hämäläinen; Hannele Laivuori; Pia M Villa; Eero Kajantie; Katri Räikkönen Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2022-01-18 Impact factor: 4.379