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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
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Pre- and postnatal influences on preschool mental health: a large-scale cohort study

Monique Robinson1, Wendy H Oddy, Jianghong Li

  • 1Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. moniquer@ichr.uwa.edu.au

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|November 20, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal stress and smoking are linked to early childhood behavior problems. Interventions addressing these early influences can improve children's mental health outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Child psychology
  • Developmental pediatrics
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Investigating early determinants of mental health morbidity is challenging due to confounding factors.
  • This study examines antenatal, perinatal, and postnatal risk factors for mental health issues in preschoolers.
  • Focuses on a cohort of Western Australian children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify significant risk factors for the development of mental health problems in pre-school children.
  • To address methodological challenges in studying early determinants of mental health.
  • To inform interventions for improving early childhood mental health outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective cohort study (The Raine Study) of 2,868 children and 2,979 pregnant women.
  • Recruitment at 18 weeks gestation, with follow-ups at ages two and five years.
  • Child mental health assessed using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), measuring internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Main Results:

  • At age two, maternal stress events, smoking during pregnancy, and maternal ethnicity were significant risk factors.
  • At age five, multiple stress events, smoking, male gender, shorter breastfeeding duration, and baby blues symptoms predicted mental health problems.
  • Multinomial logistic regression identified specific prenatal and postnatal predictors of behavioral issues.

Conclusions:

  • Early childhood mental health is influenced by both prenatal events and the child's subsequent environment.
  • Interventions targeting adverse prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors are crucial for improving child mental health.
  • Addressing these early influences can lead to better mental health outcomes in early childhood.
Abstract

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