Postpartum maternal psychological distress tied to neurodevelopmental delay in toddlers

Toddlers born to mothers with psychological distress through 1 year postpartum are more likely to have neurodevelopmental delay, according to a study.

Researchers used data from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study and looked at 82,418 mother-child pairs (mean age 31.1 years, 48.7 percent female, prepregnancy BMI 21.2 kg/m²). Of the mothers, 23,365 (28.3 percent) reported psychological distress, defined as a Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) score of ≥5, during mid- to late pregnancy only, 18,201 (22.1 percent) at 1 year postpartum only, and 10,496 (12.7 percent) at both.

Neurodevelopmental delay, defined as a score less than the cutoff in any of five developmental areas at any of four measurement times (ages 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 years), was observed in 23,007 children (27.9 percent).

Results showed that the odds of neurodevelopmental delay during toddler years were increased among children born to mothers with psychological distress present at 1 year postpartum only (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.25, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.18–1.33) than among those born to mothers with psychological distress present during mid- to late pregnancy only (aOR, 1.08, 95 percent CI, 1.03–1.13) relative to children born to mothers who had no psychological distress in either time point.

The aOR for neurodevelopmental delay during toddler years among children born to mothers with psychological distress both during mid- to late pregnancy and at 1 year postpartum was 1.38 (95 percent CI, 1.30–1.46). No evident multiplicative interaction between the two exposure periods was observed (aOR, 1.02, 95 percent CI, 0.93–1.11).

The findings underscore the importance of maintaining maternal mental health from pregnancy through 1 year postpartum.