Maternal Psychosocial Stress Associates With Increased Risk of Asthma Development in Offspring

Abstract

Prenatal maternal psychosocial stress might influence childhood asthma development. Evaluating paternal psychosocial stress and conducting a sibling comparison could provide further insight into the role of unmeasured confounding. We examined the associations of parental psychosocial stress during and after pregnancy with asthma at 7 years in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (n = 63,626). Measures of psychosocial stress included lifetime major depressive symptoms, current anxiety/depression symptoms, use of antidepressants, anxiolytics and/or hypnotics, life satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, work stress and social support. Childhood asthma was associated with maternal lifetime major depressive symptoms, adjusted relative risk (aRR) = 1.19 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.30), in addition to symptoms of anxiety/depression during pregnancy, aRR = 1.17 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.29), and 6 months after delivery, aRR = 1.17 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.28). Maternal negative life events during pregnancy, aRR = 1.10 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.13), and 6 months after delivery, aRR = 1.14 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.18), were also associated with asthma. These associations were not replicated when evaluated within sibling groups. There were no associations with paternal psychosocial stress. In conclusion, maternal anxiety/depression and negative life events was associated with offspring asthma, but this might be explained by unmeasured maternal background characteristics that remain stable across deliveries.