Paul, E;
Kwong, A;
Moran, P;
Pawlby, S;
Howard, LM;
Pearson, RM;
(2021)
Maternal thoughts of self-harm and their association with future offspring mental health problems.
Journal of Affective Disorders
, 293
pp. 422-428.
10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.058.
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Abstract
Introduction: Depression and self-harm are leading causes of disability in young people, but prospective data on how maternal depression and self-harm thoughts contribute to these outcomes, and how they may interact is lacking. Methods: The study sample consisted of 8,425 mothers and offspring from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, an ongoing birth cohort study. Exposures were maternal self-harm ideation and depression measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, collected at eleven time points over the period 18 weeks’ gestation to 18 years post-partum. Outcomes were offspring past-year major depressive disorder and lifetime self-harm assessed at age 24. Results: Nearly one-fifth (16.7%) of mothers reported thoughts of self-harm on at least one of the eleven assessment points. The frequency of maternal self-harm ideation was related to both outcomes in a dose-response manner. Young adults whose mothers had self-harm ideation on 5–11 occasions were over three times more likely (Odds ratio (OR), 3.32; 95% CI, 1.63–6.76) to be depressed and over 1.5 times as likely (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.73, 3.29) to have self-harmed than their peers whose mothers had never reported self-harm thoughts. Maternal self-harm thoughts remained associated with both offspring outcomes independent of maternal depression, and no evidence was found for an interaction between the two exposures. Discussion: Clinicians collecting data on maternal depression may consider paying attention to questions about self-harm ideation in assessments. Examining accumulated maternal self-harm ideation over time may provide insights into which children are most at risk for later self-harm and depression.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Maternal thoughts of self-harm and their association with future offspring mental health problems |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.058 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.058 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131319 |
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