title: Perinatal maternal life events and psychotic experiences in children at twelve years in a birth cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  International studies indicate that the median prevalence of psychotic experiences in children is 7%. It has been proposed that environmental stress during pregnancy may affect the neurodevelopment of the foetus and lead to a vulnerability in the child to later stressors and psychopathology.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study we explore the relationship between environmental stress during pregnancy and psychotic experiences in children in the general population at 12 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed a birth cohort of 5038 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Environmental stress was measured as life event exposure. Data on life events were collected on women during their pregnancy, whilst psychotic experiences in the offspring were assessed at age 12.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a weak association between maternal exposure to life events and psychotic experiences at twelve years (crude OR 1.10 95% CI 1.02-1.18) per quartile of life event score. This association was not reduced after adjustment for socio-economic status, family history of schizophrenia, maternal education or birth weight but after adjustment for maternal anxiety and depression and smoking in early pregnancy there was no longer any evidence for an association (OR 1.01 95% CI 0.93-1.10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides some evidence to suggest that stressful life events may affect child psychotic experiences through effects on maternal psychopathology, and possibly physiology, during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. Electronic address: sarah.dorrington@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dorrington
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Bristol BS8 2BN, United Kingdom; Department of Psychological Medicine & Neurology, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom. Electronic address: zammits@cardiff.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Stan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zammit
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Mental Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: laura.asher@lshtm.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Asher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. Electronic address: jonathan.evans@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Bristol BS8 2BN, United Kingdom. Electronic address: jonathan.heron@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heron
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Sciences Unit, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, W1W 7EJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: glyn.lewis@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Glyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: ALSPAC; Child psychiatry; HPA; HPA axis; Life events; Perinatal psychiatry; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis