Anxiety and loss experiences during pregnancy and postpartum and anxious children

Abstract

Anxiety disorders in children are very prevalent in youth. They are associated with poor psychosocial functioning and predict later psychopathology in individuals. Environmental and genetic factors and their interaction are involved in the genesis of anxiety disorders.

Stress, depression or anxiety during pregnancy are considered risk factors for development of psychopathology in children. We aimed to know its relationship whit anxiety disorders in young people.

Patients recruited for this study were the participants of our CBT group based in the coping cat model of treatment. All of them were children between 8 and 13 years old and meet criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia. Children and their parents assessed different anxiety and socio-demographic questionnaires. For this study we only analyzed the risk factors of pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding of the socio-demographic interview. SPSS v-21 was the statistical instrument.

We found out that mothers of our patients had reported anxiety symptoms, loss experiences or stress during pregnancy or postpartum period more than we expected.

Stress, anxiety or depression during pregnancy is related with anxiety disorders in children. Helping mothers to cope with stressors during pregnancy and postpartum period will contribute to a better mental health in their children. The findings of this study match with previous researches.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.