title: Postpartum depression, a direct and mediating risk factor for preschool wheeze in girls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postpartum depression affects over 1 in 10 child-bearing women. A growing body of evidence links maternal distress during the key developmental stages of infants with poor health outcomes, including wheeze and asthma.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to investigate whether postpartum depression had an independent association with the development of wheeze in preschool-aged children. A second a priori objective was to ascertain whether postpartum depression functioned as a mediating factor for associations between wheeze, and prenatal distress and nutrition.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the Community Perinatal Care Trial on maternal postpartum depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), the dependent variable, wheeze at age 3, and possible confounding factors were obtained for 791 women and their children in Calgary, Canada. Adjusted gender-specific logistic regression analyses were performed to test the association between postpartum depression and child wheeze, which was independent of maternal distress and vitamin use during pregnancy, pre/postnatal smoking, preterm birth, exclusive breastfeeding duration, daycare attendance, and maternal education. The potential mediating effects of postpartum depression were investigated in a path analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Wheeze at age 3 was almost 5 times more likely in girls of mothers who experienced postpartum depression. Results from a path analysis suggested that postpartum depression has a direct effect on wheeze (beta-coefficient=0.135, P < 0.05), and also mediates the effects of prenatal distress and vitamin use on wheeze in preschool girls. In boys, only prenatal smoking was a statistically significant predictor of wheeze, mainly through the effects of postnatal smoking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Postpartum depression may be a risk factor for preschool wheeze among girls in a low risk population, directly and indirectly through prenatal distress and vitamin use. Interventions which target postpartum depression and promote a healthy pregnancy may also reduce the risk of wheeze in children.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Alton
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
authors.forename: Yiye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Departments of Paediatrics and Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.
authors.forename: Suzanne C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Tough
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.|School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
authors.forename: Piushkumar J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mandhane
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.|School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
authors.forename: Anita L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kozyrskyj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: asthma & early wheeze; child; epidemiology; maternal health; preschool