July 19, 2011

expert reaction to new research on the effects of prenatal exposure to maternal stress on later life as published in Translational Psychiatry

Research suggested that maternal stress suffered during pregnancy could be linked to children’s ability to cope with stress later in life.

Dr Carmine Pariante, Reader in Biological Psychiatry and Head of the Sections of Perinatal Psychiatry & Stress, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, said:

“This paper confirms that the early foundation years start at minus 9 months.

“We have known for some time that maternal stress and depression during pregnancy induce a unique response in the offspring, by affecting children’s behaviour (well into adolescence) and children’s ability to modulate their own stress response. This study shows that the “glucocorticoid receptor”, that is, the receptor for stress hormones, is subject to a key biological change that contributes to the organisation of this offspring response. But, crucially, what this study really adds is an elegant confirmation that this biological change only occurs when maternal stress is present in pregnancy. This confirms that pregnancy is uniquely sensitive to a challenging maternal psychosocial environment – much more than, for example, after the baby is born. As we and others have been advocating, addressing maternal stress and depression in pregnancy is a clinically and socially, important strategy.”

‘Effects of maternal stress on later life’ by Gunter and al., published in Translational Psychiatry on Tuesday 19 July 2011.