Depression 'starts in the womb' claim is unproven

ConclusionThis prospective cohort study found a link between depression in the mother during pregnancy and child maltreatment and depression in adulthood. The results suggested that the child maltreatment might be the intermediate “step” or “link” between maternal and offspring depression.The study has strengths and limitations. The strengths are that it prospectively followed women and their children up over a long time period. The prospective nature of the study is the best way to collect such information. This allowed the study to used standardised diagnostic interviews to collect consistent information from participants. The main limitation to the study is that we cannot be certain that the links seen are due to a direct effect of maternal depression during pregnancy. While the researchers did explore and take into account some potential confounders, other factors could be contributing. It is likely that a range of environmental and potentially genetic factors may be playing a role, especially for a condition as complex as depression, so it is difficult to disentangle their effects.Another limitation is the study’s small sample size, and the fact that about a third of participants did not complete it. Also, the rates of depression in the study were relatively high, which the authors suggest might reflect the urban population studied. This means that the results may not be representative of the whole population and therefore may not be generalisable to other grou...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Pregnancy/child Source Type: news