TY - JOUR
T1 - Depression during pregnancy
T2 - Is the developmental impact earlier in boys? A prospective case-control study
AU - Gerardin, Priscille
AU - Wendland, Jaqueline
AU - Bodeau, Nicolas
AU - Galin, Armelle
AU - Bialobos, Stéphanie
AU - Tordjman, Sylvie
AU - Mazet, Philippe
AU - Darbois, Yves
AU - Nizard, Jacky
AU - Dommergues, Marc
AU - Cohen, David
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - Objective: Animal studies have shown sex differences in the impact of prenatal maternal stress on the offspring. The aim of this prospective case-control study was to assess the effect of prenatal depression on newborn and 1-year-old infant characteristics as related to gender, controlling for confounding variables. Method: We screened 205 pregnant women from April 2004 to November 2006 for depressive symptoms. Inclusion in the prenatal depression group (n = 34) was based on meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive episode. We excluded postnatal depression from the control group (n = 79) by routine screening at 2 and 6 months. Newborn and 1-year-old infant characteristics were evaluated with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment, respectively. Results: Despite our use of numerous exclusion criteria (eg, at-risk pregnancy, preterm delivery), prenatal depression highly correlated with anxiety and stress scores. Male newborns of mothers with prenatal depression had lower scores than controls on the motor skills and regulation of states NBAS clusters (P = .03 and P = .026, respectively). At 1 year, infants of prenatally depressed mothers presented higher scores on generalized anxiety (P = .002), particularly in males (P = .009); activity/impulsivity (P = .042); and sleep problems (P = .023) than controls. Conclusions: As in animal studies, depression during pregnancy may affect infant development in a way that is related to gender. Early gender differences observed to be associated with depression, stress, and anxiety during pregnancy may be a key to under standing the higher prevalence in males of child psychiatric disorders.
AB - Objective: Animal studies have shown sex differences in the impact of prenatal maternal stress on the offspring. The aim of this prospective case-control study was to assess the effect of prenatal depression on newborn and 1-year-old infant characteristics as related to gender, controlling for confounding variables. Method: We screened 205 pregnant women from April 2004 to November 2006 for depressive symptoms. Inclusion in the prenatal depression group (n = 34) was based on meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive episode. We excluded postnatal depression from the control group (n = 79) by routine screening at 2 and 6 months. Newborn and 1-year-old infant characteristics were evaluated with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment, respectively. Results: Despite our use of numerous exclusion criteria (eg, at-risk pregnancy, preterm delivery), prenatal depression highly correlated with anxiety and stress scores. Male newborns of mothers with prenatal depression had lower scores than controls on the motor skills and regulation of states NBAS clusters (P = .03 and P = .026, respectively). At 1 year, infants of prenatally depressed mothers presented higher scores on generalized anxiety (P = .002), particularly in males (P = .009); activity/impulsivity (P = .042); and sleep problems (P = .023) than controls. Conclusions: As in animal studies, depression during pregnancy may affect infant development in a way that is related to gender. Early gender differences observed to be associated with depression, stress, and anxiety during pregnancy may be a key to under standing the higher prevalence in males of child psychiatric disorders.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953051000&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4088/JCP.09m05724blu
DO - 10.4088/JCP.09m05724blu
M3 - Article
C2 - 21208585
AN - SCOPUS:79953051000
SN - 0160-6689
VL - 72
SP - 378
EP - 387
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
IS - 3
ER -