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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

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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Association of Maternal Psychosocial Stress With Increased Risk of Asthma Development in Offspring

Maria C Magnus1,2,3, Rosalind J Wright4, Espen Røysamb1,5

  • 1Division of Mental and Physical Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

American Journal of Epidemiology
|December 16, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Maternal mental health issues like depression and anxiety, along with negative life events during pregnancy, were linked to childhood asthma. However, sibling comparisons suggest these associations may stem from stable maternal factors, not direct stress effects.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Reproductive Health

Background:

  • Prenatal maternal psychosocial stress is a potential factor in childhood asthma development.
  • Paternal stress and sibling comparisons are crucial for understanding confounding factors.
  • The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study provides a large dataset for this research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between parental psychosocial stress and childhood asthma.
  • To explore the role of unmeasured confounding through sibling comparisons.
  • To assess the impact of maternal and paternal stress during and after pregnancy.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (n=63,626).
  • Assessed parental psychosocial stress using measures of depression, anxiety, medication use, life/relationship satisfaction, work stress, and social support.
  • Examined asthma diagnosis at age 7 years, with sibling analyses to control for unmeasured confounding.

Main Results:

  • Maternal depression and anxiety symptoms during and after pregnancy were associated with increased asthma risk.
  • Maternal negative life events during pregnancy and postpartum were linked to higher asthma incidence.
  • Associations were not replicated in sibling analyses, and paternal stress showed no significant links.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal anxiety/depression and negative life events are associated with offspring asthma.
  • The observed associations may be attributed to stable, unmeasured maternal background characteristics.
  • Paternal psychosocial stress does not appear to be a significant factor in childhood asthma development in this cohort.

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