Association between prenatal maternal infection and disordered eating behaviours in adolescence: a UK population-based prospective birth cohort study
Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Prenatal infections have been proposed as a putative risk factor for a number of psychiatric outcomes across a continuum of severity. Evidence on eating disorders is scarce. We investigated whether exposure to prenatal maternal infections is associated with an increased risk of disordered eating and weight and shape concerns in adolescence in a large UK birth cohort. METHODS: We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The primary exposure was maternal experience of infections at any time in pregnancy. Study outcomes were presence of any, monthly or weekly disordered eating at 14 and 16 years of age, and weight and shape concerns at 14 years. We defined the causal effect of the exposure on these outcomes using a counterfactual framework adjusting our analyses for a number of hypothesised confounders, and imputing missing confounder data using multiple imputation. RESULTS: In total, 4884 children had complete exposure and outcome data at age 14 years, and 4124 at 16 years. Exposed children had a greater risk of reporting weekly disordered eating at both age 14 [risk difference (RD) 0.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.01 to 1.9, p = 0.08] and 16 (RD 2.3%, 95% CI 0.6-3.9, p < 0.01), though evidence of an association was weak at age 14 years. Exposed children also had greater weight and shape concerns at age 14 years (mean difference 0.15, 95% CI 0.05-0.26, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to prenatal maternal infection is associated with greater risk of disordered eating in adolescence. This association could be explained by in utero processes leading to impaired neurodevelopment or altered immunological profiles. Residual confounding cannot be excluded.
Source: Psychological Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,980
Awards: G1192034430, G1493295073, G1605161196, Using modern causal inference methods and general population data to investigate the role of inflammation in the aetiology of eating disorders, G1927824909, G2533062745, Empirical eating disorder classification and validation using prospective studies, G303339423, G3345452146, The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC): A multi- generation, longitudinal resource focusing on life course health and well- being., G3831911591, Using modern causal inference methods and general population data to investigate the role of inflammation in the aetiology of eating disorders, G3990617762, G4253500661, G4260143917, The Avon Longitudinal Study for Parents and Children: An international resource for population genomic and lifecourse epidemiology. Core programme support 2014-2019., G5562631338, G5702265173, G5857625837, G6210185106, G6342754709, G6652368163, G6689231961, Inflammation and Immunity in Depression: from novel mechanisms towards therapeutics, G710448223, G7331652800, G7828794151, G801210579, G8201205252, G8256162305, MICA: Mental Health Data Pathfinder: University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and Microsoft
OpenAlex ID: W2942858736