Chernobyl exposure as stressor during pregnancy and behaviour in adolescent offspring.

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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Chernobyl exposure as stressor during pregnancy and behaviour in adolescent offspring.

Anja C. Huizink Lea Pulkkinen Danielle M. Dick Richard J. Rose Richard J. Rose Elina Sihvola Elina Sihvola Jaakko Kaprio

subject

Conduct Disorder Male Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty Generalized anxiety disorder Adolescent Offspring Severity of Illness Index Article Developmental psychology Life Change Events 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine prenatal exposure delayed effects Pregnancy Severity of illness medicine Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Humans Depression (differential diagnoses)chernobyl nuclear accident Pregnancy Depressive Disorder Major Brain medicine.disease Anxiety Disorders 030227 psychiatry Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Psychiatry and Mental health Fetal Diseases Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Conduct disorder Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity adolescent Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects Major depressive disorder Adult Children Female Psychology 030217 neurology & neurosurgery

description

Objective: Research in animals has shown that exposure to stressors during pregnancy is associated with offspring behavioural disorders. We aimed to study the effect of in utero exposure to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and maternal anxiety presumably associated with that exposure, on behaviour disorder observed at age 14. Method: Exposed (n = 232) and non-exposed Finnish twins (n = 572) were compared. A semi-structured interview was used to assess lifetime symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Results: Adolescents who were exposed from the second trimester in pregnancy onwards, had a 2.32-fold risk (95% CI: 1.13-4.72) of having lifetime depression symptoms, an increased risk of fulfilling DSM-III-R criteria of a major depressive disorder (OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.06-5.7), and a 2.01-fold risk (95% CI: 1.14-3.52) of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Conclusion: Perturbations in fetal brain development during the second trimester may be associated with the increased prevalence of depressive and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms.

year	journal	country	edition	language
2007-12-01	Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica

10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01050.x https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17997723