Poster Session 10 Program Schedule
02/17/2024
09:00 am - 10:15 am
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)
Poster Session 10: Neurodevelopmental | Congenital Conditions
Final Abstract #34
Association of Maternal Depression during Pregnancy on Offspring's Mental Health: A Systematic Review
Anam Fatima, University of Georgia, Alpharetta, United States
Arisha Fatima, Fulton Science Academy, Alpharetta, United States
Paul Lewis, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, United States
Category: Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Keyword 1: depression
Keyword 2: prenatal factors
Objective:
Prenatal depression has been associated with effects on infant development and mental health throughout childhood. This systematic review aims to understand these effects and examine the longitudinal implication of prenatal depression on children.
Participants and Methods:
A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines using various iterations of keywords such as “prenatal depression”, “child development”, and “mental health” in Pubmed and Google Scholar. 52 articles were found. Titles and abstracts were reviewed resulting in the exclusion of 28 articles due to not being in English, not being peer-reviewed, or irrelevance to the topic of prenatal depression. 24 full-text articles were screened based on population (included offspring with mothers who were diagnosed with perinatal depression) and results (discussed the effects and impact of perinatal depression on offspring), yielding 15 articles. An additional 13 records were identified from searching citations within the 15 included articles after applying the same screening process. A total of 28 articles were included in the analysis.
Results:
Prenatal depression was associated with increased fetal activity compared to non-depressed mothers (p<0.01). Total fetal activity was weakly correlated with maternal depression (r=0.30, p<0.01) and maternal anxiety (r=0.20, p<0.05). If women had a history of depression, they were more likely to relapse during pregnancy than postpartum (p<0.001). Prenatal depression was associated with increased prenatal plasmatic cortisol (p<0.01) and postnatal norepinephrine (p<0.05) levels in the mother and postnatal cortisol in the infant (p<0.05). There is a discrepancy within the literature for when prenatal depression symptoms are most prevalent and if a critical period exists between the second and third trimester for fetal impact. The effects of prenatal depression extended beyond pregnancy, influencing the child's lifelong development. Babies of depressed mothers were found to be more accustomed to their mother's detached expressions (p<0.05) and toddlers displayed more aggressive behaviors during play (p<0.05). The impact of prenatal depression became more pronounced between 27 and 42 months of age (p<0.004). As children aged, they became more vulnerable to the effects of prenatal depression, exhibiting developmental and social-emotional problems including anxiety (p<0.01) and low levels of socio-emotional competence (p<0.05). Infants of mothers who experienced both prenatal and postnatal depression had higher depression cluster scores than children of non-depressed mothers (F=9.89, p<0.01). Moreover, prenatal depression was linked to insecure attachment styles in children (p<0.05) and an increased risk of depressive disorders in adolescence (OR=4.7, CI 95% [1.60-13.86]).
Conclusions:
Prenatal depression has associations with both biological and behavioral factors in a child's development. Of note, people of color are often underrepresented in these studies, raising questions about whether the effects of prenatal depression are moderated consistently across all racial groups. Further research may provide insight into the long-term implications of perinatal depression and critical periods within the disease course, which may influence screening guidelines and clinical care for pregnant women.
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