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Maternal depressive symptoms, maternal asthma, and asthma in school-aged children
Brock H Medsker1, Bronwyn K Brew2, Erick Forno3
1Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Insights
Maternal depression significantly increases childhood asthma risk, especially when mothers also have asthma. This combined effect poses a greater risk than maternal asthma alone, highlighting the importance of addressing both conditions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric respiratory health
- Reproductive mental health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The combined impact of maternal asthma and maternal depression on childhood asthma is not well understood.
- Investigating the synergistic effects of these maternal conditions is crucial for understanding pediatric asthma development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if maternal depression exacerbates the risk of childhood asthma in mothers with a history of asthma.
- To compare the risk of childhood asthma associated with maternal asthma alone versus the combined presence of maternal asthma and depression.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional studies conducted in Puerto Rico (n=655) and Sweden (n=6,887) involving children aged 6-14.
- Maternal depressive symptoms assessed via the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and national registries; childhood asthma defined by physician diagnosis plus wheeze or medication use.
- Multivariable logistic regression analysis employed to evaluate associations.
Main Results:
- Children of mothers with asthma and depressive symptoms had significantly higher odds of asthma (Puerto Rico: 6.5 times; Sweden: 4.0 times) compared to children whose mothers had neither condition.
- Maternal asthma alone also increased childhood asthma odds (Puerto Rico: 3.2 times; Sweden: 2.8 times).
- While maternal depression appeared to amplify asthma risk in mothers with asthma, no statistically significant additive interactions were found.
Conclusions:
- Maternal depression is an independent risk factor that further elevates the risk of childhood asthma in offspring of mothers with a history of asthma.
- Addressing maternal mental health, particularly depression, may be a key strategy in preventing or managing childhood asthma.
Background:
Little is known about the joint effects of maternal asthma and maternal depression on childhood asthma.
Objective:
To examine whether maternal depression and maternal asthma lead to greater risk of childhood asthma than maternal asthma alone.
Methods:
Cross-sectional studies of children (6-14 years old) in San Juan, Puerto Rico (n = 655) and Sweden (n = 6,887) were conducted. In Puerto Rico, maternal depressive symptoms were defined using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) questionnaire. In Sweden, maternal physician-diagnosed depression was derived from national registries, and maternal depressive symptoms were defined using an abbreviated CES-D questionnaire. Childhood asthma was defined as physician-diagnosed asthma plus current wheeze (in Puerto Rico) or plus medication use (in Sweden). Logistic regression was used for multivariable analysis.
Results:
Compared with Puerto Rican children whose mothers had neither asthma nor depressive symptoms, those whose mothers had asthma but no depressive symptoms had 3.2 times increased odds of asthma (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.1-4.8) and those whose mothers had asthma and depressive symptoms had 6.5 times increased odds of asthma (95% CI = 3.3-13.0). Similar results were obtained for maternal depression and maternal asthma in the Swedish cohort (odds ratio for maternal asthma without maternal depression = 2.8, 95% CI = 2.1-3.7; odds ratio for maternal asthma and maternal depression = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.7-9.6). Although the estimated effect of maternal asthma on childhood asthma was increased when maternal depressive symptoms (Puerto Rico) or maternal depression (Sweden) was present, there were no statistically significant additive interactions.
Conclusion:
Maternal depression can further increase the risk of asthma in children whose mothers have a history of asthma.
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