Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:23:25.152Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The perinatal origins of childhood anxiety disorders and the role of early-life maternal predictors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2020

Megan Galbally Open the ORCID record for Megan Galbally [Opens in a new window] ,
Stuart J. Watson ,
Elisabeth F. C. van Rossum ,
Wai Chen ,
Edo Ronald de Kloet  and
Andrew J. Lewis
Megan Galbally*
Affiliation:
1. The College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Australia King Edward Memorial Hospital, Subiaco, Australia
Stuart J. Watson
Affiliation:
1. The College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Australia
Elisabeth F. C. van Rossum
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Wai Chen
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Australia Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
Edo Ronald de Kloet
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Andrew J. Lewis
Affiliation:
1. The College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Megan Galbally, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The development of childhood anxiety disorders (CADs) is likely to depend on pathways that can be programmed by early-life risk factors. We test the hypothesis that early-life maternal factors can predict this programming effect on CAD.

Methods

Data were obtained from 198 women and children from the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS), a cohort study with data collected across pregnancy, postpartum and until 4 years of age. Maternal antenatal depression was measured using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV), together with antenatal hair cortisol concentrations, maternal childhood trauma and parenting stress at 6 months postpartum. CAD was assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment and the Child Behaviour Checklist.

Results

Antenatal depression, a history of maternal childhood trauma and lower gestational age at birth were each associated with anxiety disorders at 4 years of age in their children. A multivariate binary logistic model with these early predictors explained approximately 9% of variance in CAD outcome at 4 years of age; however, only maternal trauma and gestational age were significant predictors in the model. The effect of early parenting stress on CAD was found to vary by the concentration of maternal antenatal hair cortisol, whereby postpartum parenting stress was associated with CAD only when there were higher maternal antenatal cortisol levels.

Conclusions

This study suggests the importance of maternal factors pre-conception, pregnancy and in the postnatal period, which predict CADs and this is consistent with a developmental programming hypothesis for CAD.

Keywords

Childhood anxiety disordersdepressionhair cortisolpregnancy
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , February 2022 , pp. 506 - 514
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abidin, R. R. (2012). PSI-4 professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources: Luts, FL.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Child behavior checklist for ages 1.5–5 (CBCL/1⋅5–5). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.Google Scholar
Barroso, N. E., Hungerford, G. M., Garcia, D., Graziano, P. A., & Bagner, D. M. (2016). Psychometric properties of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) in a high-risk sample of mothers and their infants. Psychological Assessment, 28(10), 1331–1335. doi:10.1037/pas0000257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellis, M. A., Hughes, K., Leckenby, N., Hardcastle, K. A., Perkins, C., & Lowey, H. (2015). Measuring mortality and the burden of adult disease associated with adverse childhood experiences in England: A national survey. Journal of Public Health (Oxf), 37(3), 445–454. doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdu065.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bergman, K., Sarkar, P., Glover, V., & O'Connor, T. G. (2010). Maternal prenatal cortisol and infant cognitive development: Moderation by infant-mother attachment. Biological Psychiatry, 67(11), 1026–1032.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernstein, D., & Fink, L. (1998). Manual for the childhood trauma questionnaire. New York: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Bernstein, D. P., Stein, J. A., Newcomb, M. D., Walker, E., Pogge, D., Ahluvalia, T., … Zule, W. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse Neglect, 27(2), 169–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bogels, S., & Phares, V. (2008). Fathers’ role in the etiology, prevention and treatment of child anxiety: A review and new model. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(4), 539–558. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.07.011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Capron, L. E., Glover, V., Pearson, R. M., Evans, J., O'Connor, T. G., Stein, A., … Ramchandani, P. G. (2015). Associations of maternal and paternal antenatal mood with offspring anxiety disorder at age 18 years. Journal of Affective Disorders, 187, 20–26. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.08.012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987). Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10–item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782–786.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Kloet, E. R., Joels, M., & Holsboer, F. (2005). Stress and the brain: From adaptation to disease. Nature Review Neuroscience, 6(6), 463–475. doi:10.1038/nrn1683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Egger, H. L., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., Potts, E., Walter, B. K., & Angold, A. (2006). Test-retest reliability of the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Journal of American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(5), 538–549. doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000205705.71194.b8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finsaas, M. C., Bufferd, S. J., Dougherty, L. R., Carlson, G. A., & Klein, D. N. (2018). Preschool psychiatric disorders: Homotypic and heterotypic continuity through middle childhood and early adolescence. Psychological Medicine, 48(13), 2159–2168. doi:10.1017/S0033291717003646.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), Clinical Version. Washington DC and London: American Psychiatric Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Galbally, M., & Lewis, A. J. (2017). Depression and parenting: The need for improved intervention models. Current Opinion in Psychology, 15, 61–65. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galbally, M., van IJzendoorn, M., Permezel, M., Saffery, R., Lappas, M., Ryan, J., … Lewis, A. J. (2017). Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study (MPEWS): Understanding maternal mental health, fetal programming and child development. Study design and cohort profile. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 26, e1558. doi: 10.1002/mpr.1558.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galbally, M., van Rossum, E. F. C., Watson, S. J., de Kloet, E. R., & Lewis, A. J. (2019a). Trans-generational stress regulation: Mother-infant cortisol and maternal mental health across the perinatal period. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 109, 104374. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galbally, M., Watson, S. J., Boyce, P., & Lewis, A. J. (2019b). The role of trauma and partner support in perinatal depression and parenting stress: An Australian pregnancy cohort study. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 65(3), 225–234. doi:10.1177/0020764019838307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glover, V. (2011). Annual research review: Prenatal stress and the origins of psychopathology: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry, 52(4), 356–367. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02371.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glover, V., O'Connor, T. G., & O'Donnell, K. (2010). Prenatal stress and the programming of the HPA axis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(1), 17–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glynn, L. M., Howland, M. A., Sandman, C. A., Davis, E. P., Phelan, M., Baram, T. Z., & Stern, H. S. (2018). Prenatal maternal mood patterns predict child temperament and adolescent mental health. Journal of Affective Disorders, 228, 83–90. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.11.065.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, S. H., Rouse, M. H., Connell, A. M., Broth, M. R., Hall, C. M., & Heyward, D. (2011). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14(1), 1–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grote, N. K., Bridge, J. A., Gavin, A. R., Melville, J. L., Iyengar, S., & Katon, W. J. (2010). A meta-analysis of depression during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67(10), 1012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hensley, V. R. (1988). Australian Normative study of the Achenbach child behaviour checklist. Australian Psychologist, 23(3), 371–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarde, A., Morais, M., Kingston, D., Giallo, R., MacQueen, G. M., Giglia, L., … McDonald, S. D. (2016). Neonatal outcomes in women with untreated antenatal depression compared with women without depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(8), 826–837. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0934.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kammerer, M., Taylor, A., & Glover, V. (2006). The HPA axis and perinatal depression: A hypothesis. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 9(4), 187–196. doi:10.1007/s00737-006-0131-2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karaca-Mandic, P., Norton, E. C., & Dowd, B. (2012). Interaction terms in nonlinear models. Health Services Research, 47(1pt1), 255–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, D., Hafekost, J., Johnson, S. E., Saw, S., Buckingham, W. J., Sawyer, M. G., … Zubrick, S. R. (2016). Key findings from the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(9), 876–886. doi:10.1177/0004867415617836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Le-Scherban, F., Wang, X., Boyle-Steed, K. H., & Pachter, L. M. (2018). Intergenerational associations of parent adverse childhood experiences and child health outcomes. Pediatrics, 141(6), e20174274. doi:10.1542/peds.2017-4274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, K. S., & Vaillancourt, T. (2019). The role of childhood generalized anxiety in the internalizing cluster. Psychological Medicine, 1–11. doi:10.1017/S0033291719002484.Google ScholarPubMed
Lewis, A. J., Galbally, M., Gannon, T., & Symeonides, C. (2014). Early life programming as a target for prevention of child and adolescent mental disorders. BMC Medicine, 12(1), 33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, A. J., & Olsson, C. A. (2011). Early life stress and child temperament style as predictors of childhood anxiety and depressive symptoms: Findings from the longitudinal study of Australian children. Depression Research and Treatment, 2011, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luby, J. L., Gaffrey, M. S., Tillman, R., April, L. M., & Belden, A. C. (2014). Trajectories of preschool disorders to full DSM depression at school age and early adolescence: Continuity of preschool depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(7), 768–776. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13091198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madigan, S., Oatley, H., Racine, N., Fearon, R. M. P., Schumacher, L., Akbari, E., … Tarabulsy, G. M. (2018). A meta-analysis of maternal prenatal depression and anxiety on child socioemotional development. Journal of American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(9), 645–657 e648. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2018.06.012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manenschijn, L., Koper, J. W., Lamberts, S. W., & van Rossum, E. F. (2011). Evaluation of a method to measure long term cortisol levels. Steroids, 76(10–11), 1032–1036. doi:10.1016/j.steroids.2011.04.005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLean, M. A., Cobham, V. E., & Simcock, G. (2018). Prenatal maternal distress: A risk factor for child anxiety? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21(2), 203–223. doi:10.1007/s10567-017-0251-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, L., Creswell, C., & Cooper, P. J. (2009). The development of anxiety disorders in childhood: An integrative review. Psychological Medicine, 39(9), 1413–1423. doi:10.1017/S0033291709005157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noppe, G., Rijke, Y. B., Dorst, K., Akker, E. L. T., & van Rossum, E. F. C. (2015). LC-MS/MS-based method for long-term steroid profiling in human scalp hair. Clinical Endocrinology, 83(2), 162–166. doi:10.1111/cen.12781.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulus, F. W., Backes, A., Sander, C. S., Weber, M., & von Gontard, A. (2015). Anxiety disorders and behavioral inhibition in preschool children: A population-based study. Child Psychiatry Human Development, 46(1), 150–157. doi:10.1007/s10578-014-0460-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plant, D. T., Pawlby, S., Pariante, C. M., & Jones, F. W. (2018). When one childhood meets another – maternal childhood trauma and offspring child psychopathology: A systematic review. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23(3), 483–500. doi:10.1177/1359104517742186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, M., Whitehouse, A. J., Zubrick, S. R., Pennell, C. E., Jacoby, P., McLean, N. J., … Newnham, J. P. (2013). Delivery at 37 weeks’ gestation is associated with a higher risk for child behavioural problems. Australian and New Zealand Journal Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 53(2), 143–151. doi:10.1111/ajo.12012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogers, C. E., Lenze, S. N., & Luby, J. L. (2013). Late preterm birth, maternal depression, and risk of preschool psychiatric disorders. Journal of American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 52(3), 309–318. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2012.12.005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scher, C. D., Forde, D. R., McQuaid, J. R., & Stein, M. B. (2004). Prevalence and demographic correlates of childhood maltreatment in an adult community sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28(2), 167–180. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.09.012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slattery, M. M., & Morrison, J. J. (2002). Preterm delivery. Lancet (London, England), 360(9344), 1489–1497. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11476-0.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smy, L., Shaw, K., Amstutz, U., Smith, A., Berger, H., Carleton, B., & Koren, G. (2016). Hair cortisol as a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis biomarker in pregnant women with asthma: A retrospective observational study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 16(1), 176. doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0962-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spielberger, C. D., & Gorsuch, R. L. (1983). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults: manual and sample: manual, instrument and scoring guide: Consulting Psychologists Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statacorp, L. L. C. (2017). Stata Longitudinal-Data/Panel-Data Reference Manual. College Station, TX: Statacorp LLC, 563.Google Scholar
Treyvaud, K., Ure, A., Doyle, L. W., Lee, K. J., Rogers, C. E., Kidokoro, H., … Anderson, P. J. (2013). Psychiatric outcomes at age seven for very preterm children: Rates and predictors. Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry, 54(7), 772–779. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12040.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xie, P., Wu, K., Zheng, Y., Guo, Y., Yang, Y., He, J., … Peng, H. (2018). Prevalence of childhood trauma and correlations between childhood trauma, suicidal ideation, and social support in patients with depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia in southern China. Journal of Affective Disorders, 228, 41–48. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.11.011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zijlmans, M. A. C., Riksen-Walraven, J. M., & de Weerth, C. (2015). Associations between maternal prenatal cortisol concentrations and child outcomes: A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 53, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed