Association between preeclampsia and autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: an intergenerational analysis

Prenatal complications and neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring: interactions and confounders

“…Regardless of involved genetic correlates (14) and although SGA was not inserted in the analysis, this finding may support some intergenerational patterns for the mechanisms linking preeclampsia‐associated and neurodevelopmental outcomes. This analysis also reported increased risks of autism spectrum disorders in subjects, both the mother and grandmother of who had developed preeclampsia (5). The lack of specificity regarding neurodevelopmental effects of preeclampsia has been consistently reported in previous works (7).…”

“…Further research is also required to validate (or reject) the concept of physiological continuum underlying preeclampsia effects on offspring. The notion of 'dose–response' effects with severe forms of preeclampsia having more deleterious effects is also indirectly supported by another analysis performed by Maher and colleagues in the same issue of Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (5); the authors analyzed register data in an intergeneration fashion suggesting an ADHD risk increase of 34% in subjects exposed to preeclampsia in both grandmother and mother compared with 8% and 23% for grandmother only and mother only, respectively (5). Regardless of involved genetic correlates (14) and although SGA was not inserted in the analysis, this finding may support some intergenerational patterns for the mechanisms linking preeclampsia‐associated and neurodevelopmental outcomes.…”

“…Their findings extended the literature by demonstrating that the association between prenatal maternal smoking and child and adolescent internalizing symptoms was mediated by birthweight and emphasized the need for perinatal smoking cessation programmes. Within this research realm, two additional articles focused on the neurodevelopmental impact of preeclampsia (4, 5). Preeclampsia is classified into hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, for which a negative impact on maternal and offspring health has been previously suggested (6, 7), although there are striking inconsistencies in the literature (7).…”

“…Reproductive psychiatry, a more narrowly concentrated field within women's mental health, focuses on the research and treatment of psychiatric illness related to the female reproductive life cycle, especially during times of reproductive transitions including the menstrual cycle, infertility, and perinatal and perimenopause periods. In the current issue of Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica , several articles reflect the breadth of research within reproductive psychiatry (1, 2) and the related field of maternal–child health (3–5). Rotberg and colleagues examined the association of the birth of a child with a major congenital anomaly with later risk of new‐onset maternal psychiatric disorders (1).…”

Maternal Hypertensive Pregnancy Disorders and Mental and Behavioral Disorders in the Offspring: a Review

“…Maternal hypertensive pregnancy disorders thus constitute one of many risk factors for these neuropsychiatric disorders, with small but significant effect sizes. Interestingly, the authors of the Swedish cohort studies later showed that offspring risks of ASD and ADHD were even higher if both the grandmother and mother had had preeclampsia, suggesting multigenerational effects [ 54 ], and a novel avenue for research.…”