title: Association of maternal prenatal depressive symptoms with child cognition at age 3 years.
abstract: We examined the association of prenatal depressive symptoms at mid-pregnancy with child cognition at age 3 years in Project Viva, a pre-birth cohort study of 1030 mother-child pairs in eastern Massachusetts. We measured maternal depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), a self-report measure validated for use during pregnancy. Measures of child cognition included the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Wide Range Achievement of Visual Motor Abilities (WRAVMA). At mid-pregnancy, 81 mothers (7.9%) scored 13 or above on the EPDS, indicating probable depression. In the unadjusted model, children born to mothers with prenatal depressive symptoms had PPVT scores that were 3.8 points lower [95% confidence interval (CI) -7.1, -0.5]. With adjustment for sociodemographic variables, the association substantially attenuated [adjusted regression coefficient b for PPVT score = -0.7 (95% CI -3.6, 2.3)]. In both unadjusted and multivariable models, prenatal depressive symptoms were not associated with WRAVMA scores [adjusted b for total WRAVMA score = -0.5 (95% CI -3.0, 2.1)]. We found no evidence to suggest that maternal prenatal depression is independently associated with early child cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. atse@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Alison C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.forename: Janet W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Rich-Edwards
authors.forename: Sheryl L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Rifas-Shiman
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Gillman
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oken
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology