Postpartum Depression Increases the Risk of Autism Diagnosis in the Offspring

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

• Maternal psychopathology is a known risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders.
• The specific association between postpartum depression (PPD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring requires further clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the hypothesis that maternal PPD diagnosis increases the risk of ASD diagnosis in offspring.
• To determine if this association is independent of gestational age, child's sex, or race/ethnicity.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study utilizing electronic health records (EHRs) of 297,720 mother-child pairs.
• Identification of PPD and ASD diagnoses using ICD codes within EHRs.
• Marginal Cox proportional hazard models to assess the association between maternal PPD and offspring ASD.

Main Results:

• Children of mothers with PPD had a higher incidence rate of ASD diagnosis (9.11 per 1000 person-years) compared to those without PPD (5.48 per 1000 person-years).
• Maternal PPD diagnosis was associated with increased ASD risk in offspring (HR=1.57, 95% CI=1.49-1.65).
• The association was observed across preterm and term infants, males and females, with no significant racial/ethnic heterogeneity.

Conclusions:

• Maternal postpartum depression is significantly associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in children.
• This association is independent of key demographic and perinatal factors including gestational age, child sex, and race/ethnicity.