Maternal Psychiatric Disorder and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disability in Subsequent Offspring

Jenny Fairthorne; Geoff Hammond; Jenny Bourke; Nick de Klerk; Helen Leonard

doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2594-3

Maternal Psychiatric Disorder and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disability in Subsequent Offspring

J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Feb;46(2):523-33. doi: 10.1007/s10803-015-2594-3.

Authors

Jenny Fairthorne¹, Geoff Hammond², Jenny Bourke³, Nick de Klerk³, Helen Leonard³

Affiliations

¹ Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. Jenny.Fairthorne@telethonkids.org.au.
² Health Department of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
³ Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.

PMID: 26373768
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2594-3

Abstract

Psychiatric disorders are more common in the mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID) after the birth of their child. We aimed to assess the relationship between women's psychiatric contacts and subsequent offspring with ASD/ID. We linked three Western Australian registers to investigate pre-existing maternal outpatient psychiatric contacts and the odds of ASD/ID in a subsequent child. Women with a previous outpatient psychiatric contact were more than twice as likely to have a child with ASD [OR 2.07 (95 % CI 1.7, 2.6)] or ID [OR 2.31 (2.1, 2.6)]. Further research exploring the effect on pregnancy outcomes of medications prescribed to women with psychiatric disorders is implicated.

Keywords: Autism; Intellectual; Mothers; Pre-existing; Prenatal medication; Psychiatric.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Australia
Autism Spectrum Disorder / genetics*
Child
Child of Impaired Parents / psychology*
Female
Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
Humans
Inheritance Patterns / genetics*
Intellectual Disability / genetics*
Mental Disorders / genetics*
Mothers / psychology*
Young Adult