Project Ice Storm: Prenatal Maternal Stress Affects Cognitive and Linguistic Functioning in 5½-Year-Old Children

doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e31817eec80

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Volume 47, Issue 9, September 2008, Pages 1063-1072

https://doi.org/10.1097/CHI.0b013e31817eec80 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

This was a prospective study designed to determine the extent to which the degree of exposure to prenatal maternal stress due to a natural disaster explains variance in the intellectual and language performance of offspring at age 5½ while controlling for several potential confounding variables.

Method

Subjects were eighty-nine 5½-year-old children whose mothers were pregnant during a natural disaster: the January 1998 ice storm crisis in the Canadian province of Québec that resulted in power losses for 3 million people for as long as 40 days. In June 1998, women completed several questionnaires including those about the extent of objective stress (Storm32) and subjective distress (Impact of Events Scale-Revised) experienced due to the storm. Their children were assessed with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (IQ) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (language) at 5½ years of age, and mothers completed assessments of recent life events and psychological functioning.

Results

Children exposed in utero to high levels of objective stress had lower Full Scale IQs, Verbal IQs, and language abilities compared to children exposed to low or moderate levels of objective prenatal maternal stress; there were no effects of subjective stress or objective stress on Performance IQs. Trend analyses show that for all outcome variables except Block Design, there was a significant curvilinear association between objective stress and functioning.

Conclusions

Prenatal exposure to a moderately severe natural disaster is associated with lower cognitive and language abilities at 5½ years of age. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2008; 47:(9):1063–1072.

Section snippets

Participants

The Research Ethics Board of the Douglas Hospital Research Centre approved the research protocols for this study. In order to identify women who were pregnant during the ice storm, we contacted obstetricians affiliated with the four hospitals in the Montérégie, a region southeast of Montreal that was most affected by the ice storm, soon after the crisis. The physicians identified women who met our inclusion criteria: being pregnant during the ice storm or became pregnant within 3 months of the

Demographic Information

The families in the present study were without electricity for an average of 15.2 days (SD 8.2 days, range 0–32). At the time of their child's birth, these mothers were on average 30.2 years of age (SD 4.9) and 70.8% were from households in the upper middle class and above (lower class, 3.4%; lower middle class, 1.1%; middle class, 24.7%; upper middle class, 51.7%; upper class, 19.1%). There were 42 boys and 47 girls in the present sample. The children were on average 5.6 years of age (SD 0.1)

ANCOVAs

Fig. 1, Fig. 2 present the results of the five ANCOVAs graphically. Given the lack of correlation between Block Design and Similarities scores and the potential covariates, one-way analyses of variance were conducted for these outcomes. There were no significant objective PNMS group differences on Block Design scores (F_1,79 = 0.23; p = .634). A significant main effect for objective PNMS on the children's Similarities subtest was observed (F_1,78 = 4.68; p < .05): children whose mothers had

Discussion

Previous research with a subset of children in the present study indicated that high levels of objective PNMS were related to poorer cognitive and language abilities at 2 years of age.⁸ The main goal of the present study was to determine whether in utero exposure to varying levels of objective PNMS resulting from a natural disaster, the 1998 Québec ice storm, continued to influence the expression of children's intellectual and linguistic abilities at 5½ years of age. Furthermore, although

References (35)

BRH Van den Bergh et al.
The effect of (induced) maternal emotions on feral behaviour: a controlled study
Early Hum Dev
(1989)
EPM Brouwers et al.
Maternal anxiety during pregnancy and subsequent infant development
Infant Behav Dev
(2001)
AC Huizink et al.
Psychological measures of prenatal stress as predictors of infant temperament
J. Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2002)
AC Huizink et al.
Psychological measures of prenatal stress as predictors of infant temperament
J. Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
(2002)
BRH Van den Bergh et al.
Antenatal maternal anxiety and stress and the neurobehavioural development of the fetus and child: links and possible mechanisms. A review
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2005)
JL Cox et al.
Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in non-postnatal women
J Affect Disord
(1996)
T Fujioka et al.
Mild prenatal stress enhances learning performance in the non-adopted rat offspring
Neuroscience
(2001)
KS Hougaard et al.
Effects of prenatal exposure to chronic mild stress and toluene in rats
Neurotoxicol Teratol
(2005)
JA DiPietro
The role of prenatal maternal stress in child development
Curr Dir Psychol. Sci
(2004)
JA DiPietro et al.
Maternal stress and affect influence fetal neurobehavioral development
Dev Psychol
(2002)

BRH Van den Bergh

The influence of maternal emotions during pregnancy on fetal and neonatal behavior

Prenat Perinat Psychol J

(1990)

JK Buitelaar et al.

Prenatal stress and cognitive development and temperament in infants

Neurobiol Aging

(2003)

DP Laplante et al.

Stress during pregnancy affects intellectual and linguistic functioning in human toddlers

Pediatr Res

(2004)

TG O'Connor et al.

Maternal antenatal anxiety and children's behavioural/emotional problems at 4 years

Br J Psychiatry

(2002)

TG O'Connor et al.

Maternal antenatal anxiety and behavioural/emtional problems in children: a test of a programming hypothesis

J Child Psychol Psychiatry

(2003)

BRH Van den Bergh et al.

High antenatal maternal anxiety is related to ADHD symptoms, externalizing problems, and anxiety in 8- and 9-year olds

Child Dev

(2004)

BRH Van den Bergh et al.

High antenatal maternal anxiety is related to impulsivity during performance on cognitive tasks in 14- and 15-year-olds

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

(2005)

Cited by (327)

IFPA Joan Hunt Senior Award in Placentology lecture: Extracellular vesicle signalling and pregnancy
2024, Placenta
The field of extracellular vesicle (EV) signalling has the potential to transform our understanding of maternal-fetal communication and affords new opportunities for non-invasive prenatal testing and therapeutic intervention. EVs have been implicated in implantation, placentation, maternal adaptation to pregnancy and complications of pregnancy, being detectable in maternal circulation as early as 6 weeks of pregnancy. EVs of differing biogenic origin, composition and bioactivity are released by cells to maintain homoeostasis. Induction of EV signalling is associated with aberrant cellular metabolism and manifests as changes in EV concentrations and/or composition. Characterizing such changes affords opportunity to develop more informative diagnostics and efficacious interventions. To develop accurate and reliable EV-based diagnostics requires: identification of disease-associated biomarkers in specific EV subpopulations; and rapid, reproducible and scalable sample processing. Conventional isolation methods face challenges due to co-isolation of particles with similar physicochemical properties. Methods targeting specific vesicle-surface epitopes and compatible with automated platforms show promise. Effective EV therapeutics require precise targeting, achieved through genetic engineering to release EVs expressing cell-targeting ligands and carrying therapeutic payloads. Unlike cell-based therapies, this approach offers advantages including: low immunogenicity; stability; and long-term storage. Although EV diagnostics and therapeutics in reproductive biology are nascent, available technologies can enhance our understanding of EV signalling between mother and fetus, its role in pregnancies and improve outcomes.
A consideration of the increased risk of schizophrenia due to prenatal maternal stress, and the possible role of microglia
2023, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
Schizophrenia is caused by interaction of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Of the latter, prenatal exposure to maternal stress is reportedly associated with elevated disease risk. The main orchestrators of inflammatory processes within the brain are microglia, and aberrant microglial activation/function has been proposed to contribute to the aetiology of schizophrenia. Here, we evaluate the epidemiological and preclinical evidence connecting prenatal stress to schizophrenia risk, and consider the possible mediating role of microglia in the prenatal stress-schizophrenia relationship. Epidemiological findings are rather consistent in supporting the association, albeit they are mitigated by effects of sex and gestational timing, while the evidence for microglial activation is more variable. Rodent models of prenatal stress generally report lasting effects on offspring neurobiology. However, many uncertainties remain as to the mechanisms underlying the influence of maternal stress on the developing foetal brain. Future studies should aim to characterise the exact processes mediating this aspect of schizophrenia risk, as well as focussing on how prenatal stress may interact with other risk factors.
Maternal anxiety, exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic and socioemotional development of offspring
2023, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
The COVID-19 pandemic context may predispose mothers to increased maternal psychopathology, which may be associated with offspring socioemotional development. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between prenatal anxiety and depression and exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic with offspring socioemotional development, controlling for postnatal anxiety and depression. A total of 105 mother-child dyads were assessed in pre- and postnatal periods. Questionnaires were used to assess the impact of the pandemic, indicators of psychopathology, and the socioemotional development of the offspring. Results suggest that negative pandemic experiences are indirectly associated with offspring socioemotional development via prenatal maternal anxiety symptomatology and after controlling for postnatal anxiety and depression. These indicators predispose to emotional deficits and increase the risks of psychopathological and neurodevelopmental disorders. It is important to adopt health policies that provide timely assessment of development in early childhood to reduce the risks associated with these deficits.
Sex differences in fetal programming: Antenatal origins of health and disease (AOHD)
2023, Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine: Sex and Gender-Specific Biology in the Postgenomic Era
The science of the “Antenatal Origins of Health and Disease,” known as “Fetal Programming,” is concerned with the impacts of endogenous and exogenous stimuli on the developing fetus. It is now largely acknowledged that during intrauterine life epigenetic processes in the fetus modulate homeostatic set-points and set the stage for the future development of health and disease. Whatever affects the pregnant mother may affect her growing fetus, and this includes nutrition, habits, environmental toxins, medications, and stress. Moreover, even before conception sperm cells and ova can be exposed to exogenous adverse effects which may have detrimental impact on the fetus. Understanding the concept of fetal programming means to understand that the care of the pregnant women must include the care of the fetus as a patient for the benefit its future wellbeing.
Association of maternal exposure to Superstorm Sandy and maternal cannabis use with development of psychopathology among offspring: the Stress in Pregnancy Study
2023, BJPsych Open
Association of Preconception or Antepartum Maternal Intimate Partner Violence with Autism Spectrum Disorder in 3-Year-Old Offspring:The Japan Environment and Children’s Study
2024, Journal of Women's Health

View all citing articles on Scopus

Article Plus (online-only) materials for this article appear on the Journal's Web site:www.jaacap.com.

This study was supported by grants from the McGill University Stairs Memorial Fund, the Canadian Institute of Health Research, and the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, and a research fellowship from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec awarded to Suzanne King. The authors thank the families who have participated in Project Ice Storm since 1998, and Shannon Woo, Cheryl Chanson, and Sawsan Mbirkou for data entry and Lorraine Dubois for assessing the children.

View full text

Project Ice Storm: Prenatal Maternal Stress Affects Cognitive and Linguistic Functioning in 5½-Year-Old Children

Abstract

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Demographic Information

ANCOVAs

Discussion

Early Hum Dev

Infant Behav Dev

J. Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

J. Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

J Affect Disord

Neuroscience

Neurotoxicol Teratol

The role of prenatal maternal stress in child development

Curr Dir Psychol. Sci

Maternal stress and affect influence fetal neurobehavioral development

Dev Psychol

The influence of maternal emotions during pregnancy on fetal and neonatal behavior

Prenat Perinat Psychol J

Prenatal stress and cognitive development and temperament in infants

Neurobiol Aging

Stress during pregnancy affects intellectual and linguistic functioning in human toddlers

Pediatr Res

Maternal antenatal anxiety and children's behavioural/emotional problems at 4 years

Br J Psychiatry

Maternal antenatal anxiety and behavioural/emtional problems in children: a test of a programming hypothesis

J Child Psychol Psychiatry

High antenatal maternal anxiety is related to ADHD symptoms, externalizing problems, and anxiety in 8- and 9-year olds

Child Dev

High antenatal maternal anxiety is related to impulsivity during performance on cognitive tasks in 14- and 15-year-olds

Neurosci Biobehav Rev