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Maternal stress and perinatal features in autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Author(s) -
Say Gökçe Nur,
Karabekiroğlu Koray,
Babadağı Zehra,
Yüce Murat
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/ped.12822
Subject(s) - medicine , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , autism , autism spectrum disorder , stress (linguistics) , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy
Background We investigated the shared and non‐shared perinatal risk factors for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a clinical sample. Additionally, we compared these groups regarding pre/postpartum maternal stress and the duration of breastfeeding. Methods Children aged 3–18 years old with ASD (n = 100) were compared with age‐ and gender‐matched children with ADHD (n = 100) and with age‐ and gender‐matched healthy controls (n = 80). Results Prematurity of the neonate and maternal stress/depressive mood in pregnancy were common risk factors shared by ASD and ADHD. Postpartum maternal depressive mood may be more specific to ASD, while shorter duration of breastfeeding may be related to ADHD. Conclusions ASD and ADHD may have some perinatal features in common. Identification of perinatal factors for ASD and ADHD carries clinical implications in terms of primary prevention.