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Does unwantedness of pregnancy predict schizophrenia in the offspring?

Findings from a prospective birth cohort study

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Abstract

Background

We sought to replicate (or refute) a previous report of an association between unwantedness of a pregnancy and the risk of schizophrenia in the offspring.

Method

The study was conducted using a large, prospectively collected birth cohort as part of the Prenatal Determinants of Schizophrenia study (PDS). Attitude toward the pregnancy was assessed at the time of the mother’s first visit to the prenatal clinic. Cases of schizophrenia and other schizophrenia spectrum disorders in the offspring of these mothers were subsequently ascertained and diagnosed. In univariate and multivariate analyses, we examined the relationship between attitude toward the pregnancy and risk of adult schizophrenia and other schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Results

The unadjusted hazard ratio for the association between ambivalent or negative maternal attitude toward the pregnancy and the risk of schizophrenia spectrum disorders was 1.75, (95% CI = 0.97, 3.17, P = 0.06). This result was unchanged after adjustment for social class, paternal age, race/ethnicity and other potential confounders. Similar results were observed when only cases with schizophrenia were included in the analysis.

Conclusions

We did not find a statistically significant association in favor of the hypothesis that unwantedness of pregnancy is a risk factor for adult schizophrenia. On the other hand, the magnitude of the observed association was similar to the findings of the only previous study of this question and the confidence limits overlap those findings. Whether unwantedness of pregnancy is a risk factor for adult schizophrenia remains an open question that may be resolved by future research.

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Acknowledgement

The Child Health and Development Study has been supported by NICHD contracts (NO1-HD-1-3334 and NO1-HD-6-3258), and is administered by the Public Health Institute, Berkeley, CA, Barbara Cohn PI. This manuscript was supported by NIMH grants 1K02MH65422-01 (A.S.B.), 1R01MH-60249 (A.S.B.), 1R01MH63264 (A.S.B.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Daniel B. Herman DSW, MS, Alan S. Brown, Dolores Malaspina, Michaeline Bresnahan & Ezra S. Susser

  2. Dept. of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, 722 W. 168th Street, Suite 1707, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Daniel B. Herman DSW, MS, Mark G. Opler, Manisha Desai, Michaeline Bresnahan & Ezra S. Susser

  3. College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Alan S. Brown & Dolores Malaspina

  4. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, USA

    Catherine A. Schaefer

Authors
  1. Daniel B. Herman DSW, MS
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  2. Alan S. Brown
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  3. Mark G. Opler
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  4. Manisha Desai
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  5. Dolores Malaspina
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  6. Michaeline Bresnahan
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  7. Catherine A. Schaefer
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  8. Ezra S. Susser
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel B. Herman DSW, MS.

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Herman, D.B., Brown, A.S., Opler, M.G. et al. Does unwantedness of pregnancy predict schizophrenia in the offspring?. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 41, 605–610 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0078-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0078-7

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