Maternal conduct problems and antenatal depression could lead to anti-social behaviour in children.
Interviews of 120 British adolescents and their parents (80% of a random sample of antenatal patients drawn from a representative urban population and followed longitudinally) revealed that 40 (33%) had been arrested and/or had a diagnosis of conduct disorder by 16 years of age; of those, 18 (45%) had committed violent acts. Depression in pregnancy significantly predicted violence in adolescence, even after controlling for the family environment, the child's later exposure to maternal depression, the mother's smoking and drinking during pregnancy, and parents' antisocial behavior. Mothers with a history of conduct problems were at elevated risk to become depressed in pregnancy, and the offspring of depressed women had a greater chance of becoming violent by age 16, researchers said.
Evidence shows that the children of mothers who are depressed in pregnancy may also be exposed to a cumulative sequence of risk factors, including the pregnant woman's anxiety symptoms, her use of substances during pregnancy, and her subsequent episodes of depressive illness. These cumulative risks associated with antenatal depression would be further exacerbated by her antisocial tendencies, the father's antisocial behavior, and general environmental adversity throughout the child's lifetime, Dale F. Hay, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff, Wales and others wrote in Child Development.
Pregnancy and Antenatal Care
What is Antenatal care and its importance during pregnancy for mother and baby, with details on the medical test preformed during the first visit to the doctor.
What is Antenatal care and its importance during pregnancy for mother and baby, with details on the medical test preformed during the first visit to the doctor.
Children who showed serious levels of violence in adolescence were especially likely to have had a non-optimal family environment. They were more likely than nonviolent children, even those with other antisocial symptoms, to have been exposed to recurring episodes of maternal illness and to have mothers with a history of conduct problems.
The fact that antisocial adolescents who were not violent were not significantly different from non-antisocial adolescents in their exposure to most risk factors suggests that there may be a direct link between a child's early adverse experiences and his or her propensity for violence, as opposed to a disposition to show other forms of covert antisocial behavior.
This in turn suggests that if there are fetal programming effects linked to the mother's depression in pregnancy, and leading to neurobiological impairment, they are more likely to influence overt aggression than other forms of rule breaking in childhood and adolescence.
The challenges faced by the children of mothers with a history of conduct problems and lifelong depressive illness have been highlighted by the researchers, and they are calling for appropriate intervention.
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Miscarriage Linked to Substance Abuse, Depression Risk In Young Women
Young women who experience abortion or miscarriage are at higher risk for substance abuse or developing a mood disorder in later life, according to an Australian study.
Young women who experience abortion or miscarriage are at higher risk for substance abuse or developing a mood disorder in later life, according to an Australian study.
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Mental Health Problems Of Youth On The Rise In US
High school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues like never before, more than what was the case in in the Great Depression era.
High school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues like never before, more than what was the case in in the Great Depression era.
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