title: Prenatal adverse life events increase the risk for atopic diseases in children, which is enhanced in the absence of a maternal atopic predisposition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is evidence to suggest an association between prenatal maternal stress and the development of asthma or other atopic diseases in offspring. Yet, insights on the lasting effect of multiple, common prenatal stressors are rare, and the effects of prenatal timing are poorly understood. Further, it remains elusive if prenatal life events modify the risk for atopic diseases in the context of a parental predisposition to atopy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We tested whether women's experiences of common, adverse life events during the first or second half of pregnancy predicted the risk of developing atopic diseases in their children and whether a reported parental atopic disease moderated this association.
  
  
  METHODS
  We calculated the odds of a child developing asthma, eczema, and/or allergic rhinitis at ages 6 or 14 years, depending on maternal prenatal exposure to negative life events in a sample of 1587 children from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study by using multivariable logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed that the likelihood of asthma and eczema at age 14 years was significantly increased in children of mothers who had experienced adverse life events during the second half of gestation (1 life event: adjusted odds ratio for asthma, 2.08 [95% CI, 1.22-3.54]). A stronger increase in the odds to develop asthma upon prenatal life events was present in children of mothers without asthma compared with mothers with asthma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal adverse life events during the second half of gestation are linked to an increased risk for the development of atopic disorders, asthma, and eczema, in the case of asthma, particularly in the absence of a maternal asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: i.hartwig@uke.de.
authors.forename: Isabel R V
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Hartwig
authors.affiliation: Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Sly
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Louis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: van Lieshout
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Brain Body Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bienenstock
authors.affiliation: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: p.arck@uke.de.
authors.forename: Petra C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Arck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D004485:Eczema / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Atopic disease; allergic rhinitis; asthma; child; eczema; negative life events; pregnancy; prenatal programming