Higher perceived stress during pregnancy may be associated with greater severity of autism-related traits in children, according to a recent ECHO Cohort study led by Luke Grosvenor, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California.
Many mothers experience higher levels of stress and other mental health challenges during pregnancy. Previous studies have found that pregnancy stress may be associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children, but these studies have mostly focused on the occurrence of isolated adverse or stressful events that occur in the mother’s life during pregnancy. Fewer studies have measured general perceived stress among mothers during pregnancy. To better understand whether this prenatal exposure may be associated with severity of autism-related traits in children, researchers collected information from over 4,000 mothers and their children enrolled in 20 ECHO Cohort Study Sites across the United States.
Key Takeaways include:
- Higher perceived stress during pregnancy was associated with slightly more severe autism‑related traits in children.
- At higher prenatal perceived stress levels, children showed slightly higher scores on tests measuring social and behavioral traits related to autism. Children whose mothers had either moderate or high categorical stress scored higher than those whose mothers reported low or no stress.
- The link between pregnancy stress and autism‑related traits did not differ between boys and girls.
- The relationship between prenatal stress and autism‑related traits remained consistent even when the researchers accounted for mothers’ co-occurring prenatal depressive symptoms.
- Stress during pregnancy is normal and common to experience. While the results of this study indicate that there may be a small association between pregnancy stress and autism-related traits, they do not imply that stress during pregnancy causes autism spectrum disorder or autism-related traits to occur in children.
“This study provides evidence for small yet significant associations between higher prenatal perceived stress and greater severity of autism-related traits,” said Dr. Grosvenor. “These results could have implications for prenatal mental health screening and behavioral interventions aimed at improving child outcomes.”
Future studies could help researchers better understand the specific periods during pregnancy during which stress may have the greatest association with child health and development and how other related social and emotional factors may influence this effect.
This collaborative research, titled “Associations between Prenatal Perceived Stress and Child Autism-Related Traits in the ECHO Cohort,” is published in The Journal of Pediatrics.