title: Maternal Depressive Symptoms During and After Pregnancy and Psychiatric Problems in Children.
abstract: Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of psychiatric problems in children. A more precise understanding of the timing of the symptoms during pregnancy and their independence of other prenatal and postnatal factors in predicting child psychopathology risk is needed. We examined whether maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy predict child psychiatric problems, whether these associations are trimester- or gestational-week-specific and/or independent of pregnancy disorders, and whether maternal depressive symptoms after pregnancy mediate or add to the prenatal effects.
  
  
  
  The study sample comprised 2,296 women and their children born in Finland between 2006-2010, participating in the prospective pregnancy cohort study Prediction and Prevention of Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction (PREDO) and followed up from 1.9 to 5.9 years of age. The women completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale biweekly between gestational weeks+days 12+0/13+6 and 38+0/39+6 or delivery. In the follow-up, they completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Child Behavior Checklist 1½-5.
  
  
  
  Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy predicted significantly higher internalizing (0.28 SD unit per SD unit increase [95% CI = 0.24-0.32]), externalizing (0.26 [0.23-0.30]), and total problems (0.31 [0.27-0.35]) in children. These associations were nonspecific to gestational week and hence pregnancy trimester, independent of pregnancy disorders, and independent of, although partially mediated by, maternal depressive symptoms after pregnancy. Psychiatric problems were greatest in children whose mothers reported clinically significant depressive symptoms across pregnancy trimesters and during and after pregnancy.
  
  
  
  Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy predict increased psychiatric problems in young children. Preventive interventions from early pregnancy onward may benefit offspring mental health.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland; Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK. Electronic address: marius.lahti@helsinki.fi.
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lahti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Katri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Savolainen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Soile
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tuovinen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Anu-Katriina
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pesonen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lahti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kati
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heinonen
authors.affiliation: Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Esa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hämäläinen
authors.affiliation: Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Finland; Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Hannele
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laivuori
authors.affiliation: Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Pia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.affiliation: Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Finland; National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland and Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kajantie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Katri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Räikkönen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: antenatal; childhood mental health; depression; prospective study; psychiatric symptoms