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The association between prenatal environment and children’s mental health trajectories from 2 to 14 years

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Abstract

The prenatal period is recognised as a critical period for later behavioural development. This study aimed to elucidate how an adverse prenatal environment, as defined by the presence of a number of known prenatal risk factors, would influence mental health trajectories in children to 14 years of age. The Raine Study provided comprehensive data from 2,900 pregnancies. Offspring were followed up at ages 2, 5, 8, 10, and 14 years using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). We used linear mixed regression models with random intercept and slope (random effects models) to examine the extent to which the predictor variables considered influenced changes in continuous CBCL total, internalising, and externalising T scores from ages 2 to 14. In the final multivariate models, increased offspring CBCL T scores were significantly predicted by the mother not finishing high school, smoking during pregnancy, having a total family income below the poverty line, being diagnosed with gestational hypertension and experiencing stressful life events during pregnancy. Conversely, as maternal age increased, CBCL T scores were significantly decreased. Child age also significantly interacted with maternal education, total family income, and maternal stressful life events, such that these variables predicted increases in CBCL scores from age 2 to age 10, and from age 2 to age 14 years. In the Raine Study sample, children who experienced adverse prenatal environments experienced increased levels of problem behaviours in childhood, and more problematic mental health trajectories. Maternal health risk behaviours and other psychosocial variables more commonly affected child behaviour than obstetric complications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the funding and support of the Raine Medical Research Foundation, The University of Western Australia (UWA), the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, the UWA Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, the Women and Infants Research Foundation, and Curtin University of Technology. We acknowledge the long-term support and funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia and the Raine Medical Research Foundation. The authors are extremely grateful to all the Raine Study participants and their families who took part in this study, as well as the Raine Study team for their cohort coordination and data collection. This study was funded by a ‘near miss’ grant from the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at UWA. KLA and MR are supported by an NHMRC Early Career Research Fellowship. AJOW is supported by an NHMRC Career development Fellowship (#1004065).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest to report.

Ethical approval standard

This research was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committees at KEMH and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Western Australia and has therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

Informed consent

Written parental consent was obtained at recruitment and at each follow-up.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

    Jessica E. Tearne, Karina L. Allen, Carly E. Herbison, David Lawrence, Andrew J. O. Whitehouse & Monique Robinson

  2. School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

    Jessica E. Tearne, Karina L. Allen & Andrew J. O. Whitehouse

  3. School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    Michael G. Sawyer

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  1. Jessica E. Tearne
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  2. Karina L. Allen
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  7. Monique Robinson
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Correspondence to Jessica E. Tearne.

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Tearne, J.E., Allen, K.L., Herbison, C.E. et al. The association between prenatal environment and children’s mental health trajectories from 2 to 14 years. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 24, 1015–1024 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0651-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0651-7

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