The effects of prenatal stress on temperament and problem behavior of 27-month-old toddlers

Gutteling, Barbara M.; Weerth, Carolina de; Willemsen‐Swinkels, Sophie H. N.; Huizink, Anja C.; Mulder, E.J.H.; Visser, Gerard H.A.; Buitelaar, Jan K.

doi:10.1007/s00787-005-0435-1

Cited by 210 publications

(187 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…colleagues (2003, 2004) found an association between increased maternal stress during pregnancy and restless temperament, as well as delays in motor and mental development in infants at ages 3 and 8 months. Follow-up assessments at age 27 months found a link between maternal anxiety during pregnancy and restless temperament and increase in behavioral problems (Gutteling et al, 2005). Such motor, behavioral, and developmental difficulties correspond with deficits associated with schizophrenia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Maternal household crowding during pregnancy and the offspring's risk of schizophrenia

Kimhy

Harlap

Fennig

et al. 2006

Schizophrenia Research

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Maternal household crowding during pregnancy and the offspring's risk of schizophrenia

Kimhy

Harlap

Fennig

et al. 2006

Schizophrenia Research

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“…Written informed consent was obtained from the mothers and verbal informed consent from the children. The UMCU's ethical committee for experiments on human beings approved the study.The children participating in this study had been followed since their mothers' pregnancy as part of an ongoing prospective longitudinal study of the effects of prenatal stress in mothers on the cognitive and behavioral development of their children (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19).With the exception of two boys who did not want to participate in this part of the study, the study group was the same as described in Gutteling et al (16) (for more details, please refer to that article).Observational data were collected from 110 (48 boys and 62 girls) children. The mean age of the participating children was 6.7 y (SD ϭ 0.7 y) and ranged from 5.4 y to 8.0 y.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Stress and Mixed-Handedness

2007

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Atypical lateralization, as indicated by mixedhandedness, has been related to diverse psychopathologies. Maternal prenatal stress has recently been associated with mixed-handedness in the offspring. In the present study, this relationship was investigated further in a prospective, methodologically comprehensive manner. Stress levels were determined three times during pregnancy by means of questionnaires and measurements of cortisol levels. The handedness of 110 6-y-old children (48 boys) was determined by independent observers. Mixed handedness was defined as using the opposite hand for one or more of the tested activities. Logistic regression analysis showed that more maternal daily hassles in late pregnancy and maternal mixed-handedness increased the chance of mixed-handedness in the offspring. In contrast, more pregnancyrelated fear in late pregnancy and a longer duration of gestation were associated with a smaller chance of being mixed-handed. Prenatal stress measured during the first two periods of pregnancy or determined by cortisol was not related to mixed-handedness in the offspring. In conclusion, reported and physiologic measures of prenatal stress in a moderately stressed pregnant population were only partly related to offspring mixed-handedness. A ccording to the fetal programming hypothesis, the environment in utero can alter the development of the fetus during particular sensitive periods, with a permanent effect on the set point of physiologic systems and the phenotype in later years (1).Maternal prenatal stress has been shown to affect postnatal physical, behavioral, emotional, temperamental, and physiologic outcome of the offspring (2). In animals, maternal prenatal stress has also been linked with atypical laterality in the offspring (3-5). In humans, reduced brain asymmetry and less right-handedness have been proposed as indicators of disturbances in normal brain development and to be related to psychopathology (6). Atypical lateralization, as indicated by mixed-handedness, has been associated with autism (7), dyslexia (8), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (9), and schizophrenia (10). Two recent studies investigated the possible association between maternal prenatal distress (11) and anxiety (12) and offspring mixed-handedness. Obel and colleagues (11) reported that the 3-y-old children of mothers who had experienced more distress and stressful life events during the third trimester of pregnancy had a three-to fourfold higher prevalence of mixed-handedness. Glover et al. (12) reported a significant association between prenatal anxiety measured at 18 wk of pregnancy and mixed-handedness of the 42-mo-old offspring. Furthermore, the authors found a positive relationship between maternal mixed-handedness and offspring mixed-handedness.The two studies measured handedness through parental reports, and although both found maternal prenatal stress to be associated with mixed-handedness, their results differed with respect to the period in pregnancy in which stress exerted this effec...

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“…Another study found out that maternal antenatal stress, was a better predictor of difficulties with attention regulation and externalizing problems in the offspring, than the presence of objective stressors. They also underscore the importance of pregnancy-specific anxiety (like the fear of having a handicapped child) on the offspring temperamental and behavioral development [15]. The association with pregnancy-specific anxiety and poorer emotional and attentional regulation has also been found in a sample of financially stable women with wanted pregnancies and no exposure to traumatic stressors [24].…”

Section: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd)mentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Some recent works opt for prospective studies, which allow a closer examination of the maternal stressors and the gestational process [14,15].…”

Section: Studies In Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Stress and its effects of human cognition, behavior and psychopathology: A review of the literature

Ramborger¹,

Zubilete²,

Acosta³

2018

Pediatr Dimensions

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Stress plays a fundamental role in the etiology and evolution of diseases and disorders both in the early stages of development and the adult life. Neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, autism, ADHD and schizophrenia have a complex etiology, which is influenced by early experiences that affect the vulnerability of the individual.During early intrauterine and postnatal life, the developing organism undergoes complex physiological changes, and even small disturbances can have far-reaching consequences which can be observed even into adulthood. Currently, understanding the factors that may be affecting the organism during development is a challenge. Among the effects induced by Prenatal Stress we can mention a dysregulation of the HPA axis, an alteration of the circadian rhythm, a reduction of the hippocampal plasticity and the capacity of learning and memory among others.The effects of Prenatal Stress are widely studied in laboratory animals, but systematic research on human subjects is comparatively scarce. While studies in humans suffer from certain methodological limitations, they are currently the only way to explore some of the most complex, long-term interactions between antenatal stress and the behavioral and cognitive alterations of the offspring. This work aims to review studies about Prenatal Stress pertaining human subjects, and to explore some of the controversies arising on this field.

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The effects of prenatal stress on temperament and problem behavior of 27-month-old toddlers

Abstract: Increased levels of maternal prenatal stress appear to be associated with temperamental and behavioral problems in toddlers.

Cited by 210 publications

References 53 publications

Maternal household crowding during pregnancy and the offspring's risk of schizophrenia

Maternal household crowding during pregnancy and the offspring's risk of schizophrenia

Prenatal Stress and Mixed-Handedness

Prenatal Stress and its effects of human cognition, behavior and psychopathology: A review of the literature

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