http://www.thealmagest.com/air-pollution-psychological-distress-pregnancy-linked-childhood-behavior-problems/6916
December 15, 2013
Maternal psychological distress combined with exposure to air
pollution during pregnancy have an adverse impact on the child’s
behavioral development, according to researchers at the Columbia Center
for Children’s Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public
Health.
The study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics, reports
that maternal demoralization, a measure of psychological distress
capable of affecting a mother’s ability to cope with stressful
situations, was linked with a number of behavioral problems, including
anxiety, depression, attention problems, rule-breaking, externalizing
problems, and aggressive behavior. The effects of demoralization were
greatest among children with higher levels of prenatal exposure to
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in air pollution.
“This study shows that the combination of physical and psychosocial
stressors during fetal development magnifies the effect of each
exposure,” says lead author Frederica Perera, DrPH, PhD, director of the
Center. “The findings are of concern because attention problems and
anxiety and depression have been shown to affect peer relationships,
academic performance, and future well- being of children.”
The paper is the first to assess the interaction between PAH,
combustion-related pollutants measured in air the mother breathed during
pregnancy, and maternal demoralization on a variety of behavioral
problems in childhood.
PAH are air pollutants generated by combustion sources such as motor
vehicles, coal-fired power plants, residential heating and tobacco
smoke. In Krakow, Poland, where the study took place, as in many areas
worldwide, coal burning is an important air pollution source. Although
Krakow has relatively high ambient concentrations of PAH from
coal-burning and vehicle emissions, levels are within the range seen in
many other urban areas worldwide. “Air pollution exposure is ubiquitous
and often co-occurs with socioeconomic disadvantage and maternal
psychological distress,” notes Dr. Perera.
Researchers, led by Dr. Perera and Wieslaw Jedrychowski, MD, PhD,
from the University of Krakow, followed 248 mother-child pairs from
pregnancy through 9 years of age. Personal air sampling was completed
during pregnancy to estimate prenatal PAH exposure. Behavioral problems
were assessed using the Child Behavioral Checklist, a set of questions
to which mothers responded about their child’s behavior. Maternal
demoralization has been correlated with socioeconomic factors such as
material hardship. Levels of maternal demoralization were ascertained by
a questionnaire during the second trimester.
Relationships between prenatal air pollution and behavioral or
cognitive problems in childhood have previously been observed in the
Center’s Mothers & Newborns study in New York City and in the Polish
cohort. This new study builds upon prior findings to examine the joint
impact of maternal psychological distress and air pollution on
behavioral problems.
Understanding the interactions between the social and physical
environment will help to explain health disparities and create
interventions to prevent health and developmental problems in children.
Notes Dr. Perera, “The findings support policy interventions to reduce
air pollution exposure in urban areas as well as programs to screen
women early in pregnancy to identify those in need of psychological or
material support.”