Helsel, Alexis A
(2013)
Prenatal Depressive Symptoms and Offspring Internalizing Symptoms at 22 Years.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Prenatal depression has been linked to a number of adverse outcomes for the developing fetus. A few studies have explored the effects on offspring psychopathology in childhood and adolescence, but it is unclear whether these effects extend into adulthood. This study examined the effect of prenatal depressive symptoms on offspring internalizing scores at 22 years within the Maternal Health Practices and Child Development Study birth cohort. Mediation analysis was performed to examine potential mediators of this relationship. Latent growth curve modeling was utilized to perform a trajectory analysis to investigate whether changes in maternal depressive symptoms over time had an effect on offspring internalizing symptoms.
Prenatal depressive symptoms were common in our sample and were associated with higher internalizing symptoms in exposed offspring at 22 years. These associations remained significant while controlling for prenatal and current covariates of internalizing symptoms. This effect was not found to be mediated by birth weight. Latent growth curve modeling revealed that, on average, maternal depressive symptoms decreased slightly from the first trimester through 16 years. Within the trajectory analysis, higher first trimester maternal depressive symptoms were marginally associated with offspring internalizing scores at 22 years, however this effect was found to be mediated by offspring reports of childhood maltreatment. The change in maternal depressive symptoms during the course of the study did not affect offspring internalizing scores.
While the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and offspring internalizing symptoms was shown to be mediated by childhood maltreatment, identifying women with elevated depressive symptoms during pregnancy nevertheless identifies a subgroup of children at increased risk of experiencing child abuse and neglect. The public health significance of our findings is that pregnancy may represent an ideal time for clinicians to screen and identify women whose offspring may benefit from targeted interventions to decrease childhood maltreatment.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
27 September 2013 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
30 May 2013 |
| Approval Date: |
27 September 2013 |
| Submission Date: |
15 July 2013 |
| Access Restriction: |
5 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 5 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
120 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Epidemiology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
prenatal depression
maternal depression
internalizing symptoms
depressive symptoms
pregnancy |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Sep 2013 15:25 |
| Last Modified: |
01 Jul 2018 05:15 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19329 |
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