The trajectory of maternal perinatal depressive symptoms predicts executive function in early childhood.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Perinatal maternal depression may affect fetal neurodevelopment directly or indirectly via exposures such as smoking, alcohol, or antidepressant use. The relative contribution of these risk factors on child executive function (EF) has not been explored systematically.

Methods

A prospective pregnancy cohort of 197 women and their children was studied to determine whether maternal depression diagnosis and the trajectory of maternal depressive symptoms (MDSs) from early pregnancy to 12 months postpartum predicts child EF at age 4 (measured using the preschool age psychiatric assessment, NEPSY-II, and Shape School task) using latent growth curve modeling. Indirect effects of smoking, alcohol, and antidepressant use were also formally tested.

Results

Increasing

SUBMITTER: Power J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10755237 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature