Prenatal Maternal Stress and Child IQ

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: The evidence for negative influences of maternal stress during pregnancy on child cognition remains inconclusive. This study tested the association between maternal prenatal stress and child intelligence in 4,251 mother-child dyads from a multiethnic population-based cohort in the Netherlands. A latent factor of prenatal stress was constructed, and child IQ was tested at age 6 years. In Dutch and Caribbean participants, prenatal stress was not associated with child IQ after adjustment for maternal IQ and socioeconomic status. In other ethnicities no association was found; only in the Moroccan/Turkish group a small negative association between prenatal stress and child IQ was observed. These results suggest that prenatal stress does not predict child IQ, except in children from less acculturated minority groups.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13177

Authors: Andrea P Cortes Hidalgo, Alexander Neumann, Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg, Vincent W V Jaddoe, Jolien Rijlaarsdam, Frank C Verhulst, Tonya White, Marinus H van IJzendoorn, Henning Tiemeier

Institutions: Erasmus MC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Language: English

Topic: Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Ministry of Education, European Commission, ZonMw, Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport, Erasmus Medisch Centrum, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Seventh Framework Programme, H2020 European Research Council

OpenAlex ID: W2898740678