Fetal programming of neuropsychiatric disorders by maternal pregnancy depression: a systematic mini review

Background: Maternal depression complicates a large proportion of pregnancies. Current evidence shows numerous harmful effects on the offspring. Reviews, which include depression, concluded that stress has harmful effects on the offspring’s outcomes neuro-cognitive development, temperament traits, and mental disorders. Objective: This mini review of recent studies, sought to narrow the scope of exposure and identify studies specifically assessing prenatal depression and offspring neuropsychiatric outcomes. Study eligibility criteria: The review included longitudinal, cohort, cross-sectional, clinical, quasi-experimental, epidemiological, or intervention study designs published in English from 2014 to 2018. Participants: Study populations included mother-child dyads, mother-father-child triads, mother-alternative caregiver-child triads, and family studies utilizing sibling comparisons. Methods: We searched PubMED and Web of Science. Study inclusion and data extraction were based on standardized templates. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Results: Thirteen studies examining neuropsychiatric outcomes were included. We judged the evidence to be moderate to high quality. Conclusions: Our review supports that maternal prenatal depression is associated with neuropsychiatric adversities in children. Implications: Future investigations should unravel the biological underpinnings and target timely interventions as early in pregnancy as possible to prevent offspring neuropsychiatric harms.