Differential Associations of Adverse Childhood Experience on Maternal Health

The current study examined whether three distinct antecedent factors related to maternal adverse childhood experiences were differentially associated with maternal health and psychosocial outcomes in the antepartum period. It was hypothesized that all three adverse childhood experience factors would be positively associated with poor health prior to pregnancy, poor reproductive health history, and health complications and psychosocial difficulties during pregnancy.

Data from 1,994 women (mean age=30.87 years) and their infants were collected from a prospective longitudinal cohort from 2008 to 2011. Pregnant women completed self-report questionnaires and a healthcare professional assessed the mothers' health prior to pregnancy, reproductive history, and pregnancy complications.

Data analyses were conducted from December 2016 to March 2017. Path analysis demonstrated that women who had experience with physical/emotional abuse in childhood were significantly more likely to enter pregnancy with a chronic health condition (AOR=1.25, 95% CI=1.02, 1.54) and to have psychosocial difficulties in their pregnancy (AOR=1.60, 95% CI=1.34, 1.89). Women who were exposed to household dysfunction in childhood were also significantly more likely to experience psychosocial difficulties during pregnancy (AOR=2.33, 95% CI=1.49, 3.65). There was no association between exposure to sexual abuse and maternal health or mental health outcomes.

Adverse childhood experience categories differentially predicted maternal health and psychosocial outcomes prior to and during pregnancy. The overall variance accounted for by adverse childhood experiences was small (3%-19%), suggesting that factors other than childhood adversity likely contribute to maternal health.