Maternal depression during pregnancy and the incidence of autism: Is there a link?

2014

Kellie Ellerbusch
[email protected]
402-559-4892

This research looks for the impact of exposure to untreated maternal depression during pregnancy on the risk for autism compared to antidepressant medication exposure. Early programming of the human health trajectory is influenced both by the pre-pregnancy health of the mother (intergenerational programming) and by in-utero exposures during pregnancy (prenatal programming). These programming influences may either contribute directly towards disease in offspring (e.g. cardiac malformations related to antidepressant exposure) or precipitate increased vulnerability to disease (e.g. risk for childhood behavioral problems associated with in-utero exposure to maternal depressive symptoms). Pregnancy is the intersection between two generations, and thus is an ideal time period for interventions that reduce programming-related disease risk in at-risk mother-infant dyads.

Maternal depression, autism

Conference presentations and posters presented

Consumers/Families, Professionals, Students

Electronic (disc, CD, 508 compliant web posting)

[email protected]

N/A