Antenatal depression programs cortisol stress reactivity in offspring through increased maternal inflammation and cortisol in pregnancy: The Psychiatry Research and Motherhood – Depression (PRAM-D) Study

In clinical studies, depression in pregnancy (antenatal depression) has been recognized as a key clinical risk factor for the transmission of abnormal mental health and behavior to the offspring generation, over and above the effects of disrupted maternal care due to postnatal depression (Davis et al., 2007; Pawlby et al., 2009; Gerardin et al., 2010; Hay et al., 2010; Pearson et al., 2013; Van Batenburg-Eddes et al., 2013). These effects of antenatal depression are wide-ranging, and include adverse effects on neonatal behavior (Zuckerman et al., 1990; Field et al., 2004a; Diego et al., 2005; Goodman et al., 2011; Pacheco and Figueiredo, 2012), infant development (Deave et al., 2008; Previti et al., 2014) and mental health later in childhood and adolescence (Davis et al., 2007; Pawlby et al., 2009; Hay et al., 2010; Pawlby et al., 2011; Pearson et al., 2013; Plant et al., 2013; Van Batenburg-Eddes et al., 2013; Previti et al., 2014; Stein et al., 2014; Plant et al., 2015, 2016; Plant et al., 2017).
Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research