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Association between maternal fever and psychological/behavior outcomes: a hypothesis
Stefan C Dombrowski1, Roy P Martin, Matti O Huttunen
1Rider University, Graduate Education, School of Psychology Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648, USA. sdombrowski@rider.edu
Birth Defects Research. Part A, Clinical and Molecular Teratology
|January 28, 2004
Summary
Maternal fever during pregnancy, especially in the second trimester, is linked to subtle psychological and behavioral issues in children. This research highlights potential impacts on temperament, emotionality, and academic performance later in life.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Investigates the link between maternal fever during pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes.
- Focuses on subtler psychological, behavioral, and educational effects, not just major teratogenic outcomes.
- Hypothesizes that second-trimester fever adversely affects fetal central nervous system (CNS) development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between maternal fever during mid-to-late pregnancy and psychological, behavioral, and educational outcomes in offspring.
- To explore potential long-term developmental impacts of gestational fever exposure.
Main Methods:
- Utilized multivariate analyses on a birth cohort.
- Compared children exposed to maternal fever in the second and third trimesters with unexposed children.
- Assessed temperament, behavior, and academic performance at infancy, 5, and 12 years of age.
Main Results:
- Second-trimester fever associated with infant distress to novelty (p < 0.05).
- Significant associations found at age five for inhibition (p < 0.01), negative emotionality (p < 0.05), and lack of task persistence (p < 0.01).
- School achievement (p < 0.05) and task orientation (p < 0.01) at age 12 linked to second-trimester fever exposure.
Conclusions:
- Results suggest a possible association between gestational fever and later psychological/behavioral outcomes.
- Highlights the need for further, rigorously controlled research into subtler developmental effects of hyperthermia during pregnancy.
- Findings indicate potential impacts beyond major teratogenic effects, observable in childhood development.