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The impact of postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms on child development: a population-based, 2-year follow-up study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2016

S. Garthus-Niegel ,
S. Ayers ,
J. Martini ,
T. von Soest  and
M. Eberhard-Gran
S. Garthus-Niegel*
Affiliation:
Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, TU Dresden, Faculty of Medicine, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany Department of Child Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway Institute and Outpatient Clinics of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden,Germany
S. Ayers
Affiliation:
Centre for Maternal and Child Health, School of Health Sciences, City University London, London, UK
J. Martini
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, TU Dresden, Faculty of Medicine, Schubertstr. 42, 01307 Dresden, Germany
T. von Soest
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
M. Eberhard-Gran
Affiliation:
Department of Child Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway HØKH, Research Centre, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway Institute of Clinical Medicine, Campus Ahus, University of Oslo, Lørenskog, Norway
*
*Address for correspondence: S. Garthus-Niegel, Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, TU Dresden, Faculty of Medicine, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Against the background of very limited evidence, the present study aimed to prospectively examine the impact of maternal postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms on four important areas of child development, i.e. gross motor, fine motor, communication and social–emotional development.

Method

This study is part of the large, population-based Akershus Birth Cohort. Data from the hospital's birth record as well as questionnaire data from 8 weeks and 2 years postpartum were used (n = 1472). The domains of child development that were significantly correlated with PTSD symptoms were entered into regression analyses. Interaction analyses were run to test whether the influence of postpartum PTSD symptoms on child development was moderated by child sex or infant temperament.

Results

Postpartum PTSD symptoms had a prospective relationship with poor child social–emotional development 2 years later. This relationship remained significant even when adjusting for confounders such as maternal depression and anxiety or infant temperament. Both child sex and infant temperament moderated the association between maternal PTSD symptoms and child social–emotional development, i.e. with increasing maternal PTSD symptom load, boys and children with a difficult temperament were shown to have comparatively higher levels of social–emotional problems.

Conclusions

Examining four different domains of child development, we found a prospective impact of postpartum PTSD symptoms on children's social–emotional development at 2 years of age. Our findings suggest that both boys and children with an early difficult temperament may be particularly susceptible to the adverse impact of postpartum PTSD symptoms. Additional studies are needed to further investigate the mechanisms at work.

Keywords

Akershus Birth Cohortchild developmentpostpartum post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 161 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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