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Associations between maternal depressive symptoms and risk for offspring early-life psychopathology: the role of genetic and non-genetic mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2019

Line C. Gjerde Open the ORCID record for Line C. Gjerde [Opens in a new window] ,
Espen M. Eilertsen ,
Laurie J. Hannigan ,
Thalia Eley ,
Espen Røysamb ,
Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud ,
Fruhling V. Rijsdijk ,
Tom A. McAdams  and
Eivind Ystrom
Line C. Gjerde*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway PROMENTA Research Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Espen M. Eilertsen
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Laurie J. Hannigan
Affiliation:
Nic Waals Institute, Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Thalia Eley
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Espen Røysamb
Affiliation:
PROMENTA Research Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Department of Child Development, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Fruhling V. Rijsdijk
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Tom A. McAdams
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Eivind Ystrom
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway PROMENTA Research Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
*
Author for correspondence: Line C. Gjerde, E-mail: Line.Gjerde@fhi.no
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Abstract

Background

Although maternal depressive symptoms are robustly associated with offspring early-life psychopathology symptoms, it is not clear which potential mechanisms are at play. We aimed to estimate the relative importance of genetic transmission and direct environmental exposure in these associations on three occasions in early childhood.

Methods

Biometric modeling of maternal sisters and their offspring from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The analyzed sample comprised 22 316 mothers and 35 589 offspring. Mothers reported their own depressive symptoms using the Symptom checklist, and offspring's concurrent symptoms of psychopathology using the Child Behavior Checklist at 1.5, 3, and 5 years postpartum.

Results

Associations between maternal symptoms of depression and offspring emotional problems were predominantly explained by passive genetic transmission at 1.5 and 3 years postpartum. At age 5, associations were more due to direct environmental exposure. For offspring behavioral problems, there was no net increase in the importance of direct environmental exposure across occasions.

Conclusions

Associations between maternal depressive symptoms and offspring psychopathology symptoms remained after accounting for shared genes, consistent with a small, causal effect. For offspring emotional problems, this effect appeared to increase in importance over time. Our findings imply that treatment of maternal depressive symptoms could also benefit the offspring, and that genetic confounding should be considered in future studies of such mother–offspring associations.

Keywords

Child psychopathology symptomsintergenerational transmission of riskmaternal depressive symptomsNorwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , February 2021 , pp. 441 - 449
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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