AsianScientist (Apr. 22, 2011) – Perth’s Telethon Institute for Child Health Research has shown that maternal experience of stressful events during pregnancy is associated with adverse behavioral development in offspring.
Spearheaded by Monique Robinson, the Raine Study sought to quantify and interpret prenatal stress and its correlation to the offspring. The team published their results in the latest edition of Development and Psychopathology.
The researchers studied the stressful life events faced by 2900 pregnant women at 18 and 34 weeks of gestation, factoring in their socioeconomic backgrounds. The offspring were then followed up between the ages of 2 and 14.
The study demonstrated multiple stressful experiences during pregnancy was associated with behavioral problems for the offspring. These results were independent of postnatal stress exposure.
To reduce the likelihood of childhood issues, the authors believe that improved support for pregnant women during times of stress may improve their offspring’s behavioral morbidity further down the track.
The article can be found at: Robinson et al. (2011) Prenatal stress and risk of behavioral morbidity from age 2 to 14 years: The influence of the number, type, and timing of stressful life events.
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Source: Research Australia.
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