Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Mother's Psychological Stress During Pregnancy Further Linked as Schizophrenia Risk Factor for Child

We've covered previously the importance of a low-stress environment during pregnancy and childhood to minimize the risk of mental health problems in the child later in life. Now a new study has come out that further links a mother's high level of psychological stress during pregnancy with increased risk of schizophrenia in the child. What researchers are finding is that the stress hormones (cortisol, glucocorticoids, etc.) released when a mother experiences significant ongoing stress can cause long term damage to the developing fetal brain and make their brains more sensitive to stress in the future.

In this new study, reported on in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the risk of schizophrenia and related disorders was around 67% greater among the offspring of women who lost a relative during their first trimester.

Increasingly we are learning that the environment a baby is exposed to inside the womb is a very important long-term determinant of mental and physical health for the child.

The findings also appear to confirm the theory that a mother's psychological state can have a profound influence on her unborn baby.

The study results suggested that children of women who undergo an extremely stressful event--such as the death of a close relative--during the first trimester of pregnancy appear more likely to develop schizophrenia, according to a new report.

"The common conception that a mother's psychological state can influence her unborn baby is to some extent substantiated by the literature," the authors write as background information in the article. "Severe life events during pregnancy are consistently associated with an elevated risk of low birth weight and prematurity." Schizophrenia, a disabling condition associated with abnormal brain structure and function, is increasingly believed to begin in early brain development. Environmental factors, including those occurring during pregnancy, and susceptibility genes may interact to influence risk.

Ali S. Khashan, M.Sc., of the University of Manchester, England, and colleagues used data from 1.38 million Danish births occurring between 1973 and 1995. Women were linked to close family members using a national registry, and the same registry was used to determine if any of these relatives died or received a diagnosis of cancer, heart attack or stroke during each mother's pregnancy. Their children were followed from the 10th birthday through June 30, 2005 or until they died, moved out of the country, or developed schizophrenia.

During the study period, mothers of 21,987 children were exposed to the death of a relative during pregnancy, 14,206 were exposed to a relatives' serious illness during pregnancy and 7,331 of the offspring developed schizophrenia.

The risk of schizophrenia and related disorders was approximately 67 percent greater among the offspring of women who were exposed to the death of a relative during the first trimester. However, death of a relative up to six months before or any other time during pregnancy was not related to risk for schizophrenia in the child, nor was exposure to serious illness in a relative. The association between a family death and risk of schizophrenia appeared to be significant only for individuals without a family history (parents, grandparents or siblings) of mental illness.

"Risk associated with exposure to a well-defined, objective stressful event confined to the first trimester of pregnancy suggests a number of possible mechanisms," the authors write. Chemicals released by the mother's brain in response to stress may have an effect on the fetus' developing brain. These effects may be strongest in early pregnancy, when protective barriers between the mother and fetus are not fully constructed.

The researchers concluded that the "study suggests that severe stress to a mother during the first trimester may alter the risk of schizophrenia in offspring. This finding is consistent with ecological evidence from whole populations exposed to severe [psychological] stressors"

Read more on the topic:

Stressed Moms, Schizophrenic Kids (Time magazine)

Pre-birth schizophrenia risk fear (BBC News)

Archives of General Psychiatry: Higher Risk of Offspring Schizophrenia Following Antenatal Maternal Exposure to Severe Adverse Life Events

Related Reading:

Lowering the Risk for Mental Illness in Children:The Importance of a Low Stress Pregnancy for the Healthy Brain Development of the Child

Children's Brains Extremely Sensitive to Stress, A key Factor in Mental Illness