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Cohort profile: the U-BIRTH study on peripartum depression and child development in Sweden
Hsing-Fen Tu1,2, Emma Fransson1,3, Theodora Kunovac Kallak1
1Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Insights
Peripartum mental health impacts child development, affecting attention and behavior. Maternal depression is linked to infant behavioral issues and DNA methylation changes, highlighting early life influences.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Perinatal Psychiatry
- Child Neurodevelopment
Background:
- The Uppsala Birth Cohort (U-BIRTH) extends the Biology, Affect, Stress, Imaging and Cognition (BASIC) study.
- It tracks child development up to 11 years post-birth, building on prior research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess how peripartum mental illness affects child development, considering biological and environmental factors.
- To identify early predictors of neurodevelopmental and psychological problems in children.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study following mother-child dyads from pregnancy.
- Data collection includes questionnaires and biological sampling at 18 months, 6 years, and 11 years.
- Utilizes biophysiological, psychosocial, and environmental variables.
Main Results:
- Peripartum mental health is linked to attentional control and gaze-following behaviors in infants.
- Infants of mothers with depression show increased risk of difficult temperament and behavioral problems.
- Peripartum depression and anxiety correlate with infant DNA methylation differences, but not directly with 18-month behavioral issues.
Conclusions:
- Early life mental health significantly influences infant cognitive and behavioral development.
- Biological markers like DNA methylation may be associated with maternal mental health during pregnancy.
- Ongoing assessments at 6 and 11 years will provide further insights into long-term developmental trajectories.
Purpose:
The current U-BIRTH cohort (Uppsala Birth Cohort) extends our previous cohort Biology, Affect, Stress, Imaging and Cognition (BASIC), assessing the development of children up to 11 years after birth. The U-BIRTH study aims to (1) assess the impact of exposure to peripartum mental illness on the children's development taking into account biological and environmental factors during intrauterine life and childhood; (2) identify early predictors of child neurodevelopmental and psychological problems using biophysiological, psychosocial and environmental variables available during pregnancy and early post partum.
Participants:
All mothers participating in the previous BASIC cohort are invited, and mother-child dyads recruited in the U-BIRTH study are consecutively invited to questionnaire assessments and biological sampling when the child is 18 months, 6 years and 11 years old. Data collection at 18 months (n=2882) has been completed. Consent for participation has been obtained from 1946 families of children having reached age 6 and from 698 families of children having reached age 11 years.
Findings To Date:
Based on the complete data from pregnancy to 18 months post partum, peripartum mental health was significantly associated with the development of attentional control and gaze-following behaviours, which are critical to cognitive and social learning later in life. Moreover, infants of depressed mothers had an elevated risk of difficult temperament and behavioural problems compared with infants of non-depressed mothers. Analyses of biological samples showed that peripartum depression and anxiety were related to DNA methylation differences in infants. However, there were no methylation differences in relation to infants' behavioural problems at 18 months of age.
Future Plans:
Given that the data collection at 18 months is complete, analyses are now being undertaken. Currently, assessments for children reaching 6 and 11 years are ongoing.
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