Pregnancy link to child behaviour
A new study has found that children whose mothers were stressed during pregnancy are at higher risk of developing behavioural and emotional problems.
The research team analysed data from more than 1700 children in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, jointly conducted by The Kids for Child Health Research and The School of Women's and Infant's Health at the University of Western Australia. The findings are drawn from Child Behaviour Checklists undertaken at two and five years of age.
Report co-author Monique Robinson, a research officer and PhD candidate at The Kids for Child Health Research, said the analysis found that maternal smoking, low income during pregnancy, multiple 'baby blues' symptoms after birth and stress were each associated with poorer behavioural and emotional outcomes in preschool children. The risk was also higher in children of non-Caucasian mothers and those who breastfed for shorter durations.
"What this research highlights is the importance of early intervention, family support and parental education, particularly for mothers who have lower levels of education, who are socially isolated or otherwise disadvantaged," Ms Robinson said.
"This is some of the first Australian data of their kind to enable quantification of the potential benefits which could be achieved through effective public health strategies and community education.
"We now know that if we are to reduce the rising rates of behavioural and emotional problems in children, then a good place to start is in pregnancy."
Ms Robinson said that women who had experience some of these risk factors during pregnancy should not feel more anxious about these findings.
"The value of this research is in helping us as a community to understand the importance of early support for mothers. While factors such as stress might put children at higher risk, it doesn't mean that they will develop problems and there are many opportunities throughout a child's early years to promote healthy development."
The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study is a longitudinal study that began in 1989 by recruiting nearly 3000 women at around 18 weeks of pregnancy. Pregnancy data was collected at King Edward Memorial Hospital. Follow-up data continues to be collected at The Kids for Child Health Research.