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November 16, 2006
Anxiety During Pregnancy Increases ADHD Risk
Many women experience stress and anxiety during their pregnancy. Certain amounts of anxiety during pregnancy are inevitable, there is growing evidence that high levels can affect children long after birth.
One study shows prominate links between maternal anxiety levels during the early stages of pregnancy and a child's susceptibility to ADHD when he or she is older. Including smoking during pregnancy and low birth weight, the mother's current stress level is stronger than any other predictor of behavioral problems during childhood.
A condition know as "fetal programming hypothesis" is a theory that suggests at different points through out a pregnancy the environmental exposures to the fetus can influence brain development, which, in turn, can impact future mental health of a child.
In this study performed in 2004, Dr. Van den Bergh and colleagues from Belgium's Catholic University of Leuven monitored over 65 mothers and their children from pregnancy through out early childhood. They gave the mothers questionnaires to complete designed to measure their anxiety levels throughout their pregnancies, and the children were assessed for ADHD and other behavioral disorders between the ages of 8 and 9. The findings were remarkable. The anxiety levels during the 12th and 22nd week of pregnancy were strongly linked to ADHD in the children.
SOURCES: Van den Bergh, B.; vol 75. Bea Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, Peter Nathanielsz, PhD, MD, www.webmd.com
By: Margo Richter
Posted by margo1 at November 16, 2006 08:25 PM
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