Hyperactive kids born from anxietyNetdoctor.co.uk - September 1, 2001
Worrying during the final weeks of pregnancy may increase the risk of the child becoming hyperactive or badly behaved, says a study due to appear in the British Journal of Psychiatry. Pregnant women who were considered to be anxious were at a 50 per cent higher risk of having children with behavioral disorders. Boys were more likely to be hyperactive while girls more often suffered from emotional problems. The study, based in Avon, analyzed data collected from 7000 pregnant women expected to deliver between April 1991 and December 1992. At 18 and 32 weeks into their pregnancies, the women were given a questionnaire to assess their level of stress. Those whose answers put them into the top 15 per cent were classed as 'anxious'. Then, at the age of four, the women's children were analyzed to gauge whether they had any behavioral problems. The researchers chose not to measure the mother's stress levels after the child was born, explaining that they wanted to exclude cases where the mother's anxiety was 'rubbing off' on her child. The research team was led by professor of perinatal psychobiology at Imperial College, London, Vivette Glover. Professor Glover explained that the link between the mother's anxiety and the child's behavioral problems was almost certainly chemically based and was not the result of bad parenting. The experts think that cortisol, the so-called 'stress hormone' may cross the placenta and affect the unborn baby's brain. A mother's anxiety may also cause the blood flow to the womb to lessen, reducing the amount of oxygen and vital nutrients received by the unborn child. (The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Daily Express, The Guardian) For more information visit www.netdoctor.co.uk |