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Maternal bereavement and childhood asthma-analyses in two large samples of Swedish children

Fang Fang1, Caroline Olgart Höglund, Petra Arck

  • 1Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Plos One
|November 17, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Maternal bereavement during pregnancy may increase childhood asthma risk in boys. This prenatal stress exposure showed a weakly higher risk for boys, particularly when occurring in the second trimester.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Prenatal psychological stress is a potential factor influencing childhood asthma development.
  • Maternal bereavement during pregnancy serves as a proxy for significant prenatal stress.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the association between maternal bereavement before and during pregnancy and the risk of childhood asthma.
  • To investigate potential sex differences in this association.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized two large Swedish birth register samples (children aged 1-4 and 7-12 years).
  • Defined exposure as maternal bereavement of a close relative from one year pre-conception to birth.
  • Defined asthma events via hospital contact or medication records.
  • Employed Cox and logistic regression models to calculate hazard and odds ratios.

Main Results:

  • Boys exposed to maternal bereavement showed a weakly higher risk of asthma (first-ever event at 1-4 years and asthma attack at 7-12 years).
  • No significant association was observed for girls.
  • Boys exposed during the second trimester had a significantly higher risk of asthma events.
  • Bereavement of an older child was associated with a higher risk in boys.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal stress, indicated by maternal bereavement, shows some evidence of a positive association with childhood asthma in boys.
  • The study did not find a similar association in girls.
  • Specific timing (second trimester) and nature of bereavement (loss of an older child) may heighten risk in boys.
Abstract

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