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Published on: March 6, 2018
Prenatal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy and early childhood socioemotional development
Adi Fish-Williamson1, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook1, Mark Hobbs2
1Department of psychological sciences University of California Merced Merced California USA.
Insights
Prenatal antibiotic exposure did not impact childhood socioemotional development in a large study. Maternal health and sociodemographic factors were found to be confounding variables in this association.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Developmental Psychology
- Microbiome Research
Background:
- Prenatal antibiotic exposure is linked to reduced infant gut microbiome diversity.
- Early microbiome health may influence child socioemotional development.
- Understanding the impact of prenatal factors on child development is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between prenatal antibiotic exposure and childhood socioemotional development.
- To assess if timing and dosage of antibiotic exposure during pregnancy affect developmental outcomes.
- To control for confounding factors in the analysis.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a large, nationally representative longitudinal dataset (Growing Up in New Zealand Study).
- Assessed socioemotional development using a composite score from 7 tasks (9 months to 4.5 years).
- Determined prenatal antibiotic exposure via a national pharmaceutical database and employed multivariate linear regressions.
Main Results:
- Unadjusted analyses showed an inverse association between antibiotic exposure and socioemotional development.
- After adjusting for confounding factors, no significant association was found between prenatal antibiotic exposure and socioemotional development.
- This held true regardless of antibiotic dosage or trimester of exposure.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal antibiotic exposure does not appear to significantly impact early childhood socioemotional development.
- Maternal health and sociodemographic factors are significant confounders that require consideration in future research.
- Findings may alleviate parental concerns regarding the long-term effects of pregnancy antibiotic use on child health.
Background:
Antibiotic exposure in pregnancy is associated with reduced microbiome diversity in the infant gut. Given that recent research has shown that early microbiome health can impact child socioemotional development, we examined the relationship between prenatal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy and childhood socioemotional developmental outcomes using a large, nationally representative longitudinal dataset.
Methods:
A sample of 4800 diverse families were assessed from the population cohort of the Growing Up in New Zealand Study (GUiNZ), which prospectively follows children starting in the last trimester of pregnancy into early childhood. Socioemotional development was measured using a composite score derived from seven commonly used socioemotional tasks administered between 9 months and 4.5 years of child age, addressing emotional expression understanding, regulation of emotions and behavior, and social problem solving and relationship skills. A national comprehensive pharmaceutical database was used to determine children's prenatal antibiotic exposure. Multivariate linear regressions models were used to examine the effects of the timing (trimester) and dosage (number of courses) of prenatal antibiotic exposure on socioemotional development, with and without statistically adjusting for confounding factors addressing maternal health, socioeconomic status, maternal age, and child sex.
Results:
In unadjusted analyses, antibiotic exposure was inversely associated with child socioemotional development. However, after statistically adjusting for important confounds, socioemotional development was not associated with prenatal antibiotic exposure at any dosage or trimester of pregnancy (all β ≤ -0.02).
Conclusion:
Prenatal antibiotic exposure does not appear to impact early childhood socioemotional development. Maternal health and sociodemographic factors are confounded with antibiotic exposure and socioemotional development, a fact that should be considered in future research examining the effects of prenatal antibiotic exposure on child health. These findings may be reassuring to families who are concerned about the long-term effects of antibiotics in pregnancy on child health outcomes.
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