Prenatal maternal stress predicts autism traits in 6 1/2 year-old children: Project Ice Storm

Deborah J. Walder; David R. Laplante; Alexandra Sousa-Pires; Franz Veru; Alain Brunet; Suzanne King

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2014.04.034

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Prenatal maternal stress predicts autism traits in 6 1/2 year-old children: Project Ice Storm

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Prenatal maternal stress predicts autism traits in 6 1/2 year-old children: Project Ice Storm

Deborah J. Walder, David R. Laplante, Alexandra Sousa-Pires, Franz Veru, Alain Brunet and Suzanne King

Psychiatry Research, Vol.219(2), pp.353-360

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.04.034

PMID: 24907222

Abstract

prenatal maternal stress

autism spectrum disorder

natural disaster

sex differences

dimensional model

developmental psychopathology

pregnancy

Research implicates prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) as a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders; however few studies report PNMS effects on autism risk in offspring. We examined, prospectively, the degree to which objective and subjective elements of PNMS explained variance in autism-like traits among offspring, and tested moderating effects of sex and PNMS timing in utero. Subjects were 89 (46F/43M) children who were in utero during the 1998 Quebec Ice Storm. Soon after the storm, mothers completed questionnaires on objective exposure and subjective distress, and completed the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) for their children at age 61/2. ASSQ scores were higher among boys than girls. Greater objective and subjective PNMS predicted higher ASSQ independent of potential confounds. An objective-by-subjective interaction suggested that when subjective PNMS was high, objective PNMS had little effect; whereas when subjective PNMS was low, objective PNMS strongly affected ASSQ scores. A timing-by-objective stress interaction suggested objective stress significantly affected ASSQ in first-trimester exposed children, though less so with later exposure. The final regression explained 43% of variance in ASSQ scores; the main effect of sex and the sex-by-PNMS interactions were not significant. Findings may help elucidate neurodevelopmental origins of non-clinical autism-like traits from a dimensional perspective.

Details

Title: Prenatal maternal stress predicts autism traits in 6 1/2 year-old children: Project Ice Storm
Authors: Deborah J. Walder - City University of New York
David R. Laplante - Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Alexandra Sousa-Pires - Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Franz Veru - McGill University
Alain Brunet - McGill University
Suzanne King (Corresponding Author) - Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Publication details: Psychiatry Research, Vol.219(2), pp.353-360
Publisher: Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Date published: 2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.04.034
ISSN: 1872-7123
PMID: 24907222
Grant note: This study was supported by Grants from the McGill University Stairs Memorial Fund, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant no. MOP-57849), and the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, and a research fellowship from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec awarded to Suzanne King.
Organisation Unit: Thompson Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991105841902621
Output Type: Journal article