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Maternal prenatal thyroid function and trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems: findings from
Dagnachew Muluye Fetene1,2, Kim S Betts3,4, James G Scott5,6,7
1Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland, Level 2, Dianella Building (1021), 80 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, Brisbane, QLD, 4068, Australia. dagnachew.fetene@uqconnect.edu.au.
Insights
Maternal prenatal thyroid function, including thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4), did not significantly impact offspring emotional and behavioral problem trajectories in a large UK cohort study.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal health
- Developmental psychology
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Maternal thyroid hormones are crucial for fetal brain development.
- Prenatal thyroid dysfunction has been linked to potential offspring neurodevelopmental and mental health issues.
- Understanding the specific impact of maternal thyroid function on long-term child behavioral patterns is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between maternal thyroid function during the first trimester of pregnancy and offspring emotional and behavioral problem trajectories.
- To identify distinct developmental pathways of child emotional and behavioral problems.
- To determine if maternal thyroid hormone levels (TSH, FT4) or thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) predict these trajectories.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) with 4839 mother-child pairs.
- Assessed maternal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) in early pregnancy.
- Employed group-based modeling to define offspring emotional and behavioral problem trajectories across four time points (ages 3.5 to 11 years) and multinomial logistic regression for association analysis.
Main Results:
- Four distinct trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioral problems were identified: normative-decreasing, moderate-decreasing, moderate-static, and high-decreasing.
- No statistically significant differences were found in maternal FT4, TSH, or TPO-Ab levels across these identified trajectories.
- Both univariable and multivariable analyses revealed no association between maternal thyroid function parameters and the identified trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioral problems.
Conclusions:
- Maternal thyroid function parameters, assessed in the first trimester, do not appear to be associated with the developmental trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioral problems in this community-based sample.
- These findings suggest that variations in maternal thyroid function within the normal range may not be a significant predictor of long-term emotional and behavioral issues in children.
- Further research may explore other potential prenatal or postnatal factors influencing child mental health trajectories.
Abstract:
Maternal thyroid hormone may have impact on fetal brain development and consequently lead to offspring mental health problems. This study examined the role of maternal prenatal thyroid function on trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems. Data were taken from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. A total of 4839 mother-child pairs were included. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) were assessed during the first trimester of pregnancy. Childhood emotional and behavioural problems were assessed using the Strengths and difficulties questionnaire. A group-based modelling approach was used to identify the different trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems reported by parents over four waves of measurement at age 3.5 (42 months), 6.75 (81 months), 9 and 11 years. Multinomial logistic regression was then used to test for an association between hormone levels and class membership. We identified four trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems; normative-decreasing (49.7%), moderate-decreasing (35.7%), moderate-static (8.4%), and high-decreasing (6.2%) trajectory. There were no significant differences in the mean values of mother's FT4, TSH, and the proportion of mothers with positive TPO-Ab between trajectories. Univariable and multivariable multinomial logistic models showed no association between maternal thyroid function (FT4, TSH, and TPO-Ab) and the trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems. The results of our study show that maternal thyroid parameters in a community population are not associated with trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems.
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