DeSerisy Mariah, Salas Leilani, Akhundova Emiliya, Pena Dahiana, Cohen Jacob W, Pagliaccio David, Herbstman Julie, Rauh Virginia, Margolis Amy E
Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2024 Sep 11;18(1):114. doi: 10.1186/s13034-024-00804-1.
Parental psychological distress is a well-known risk factor for developmental psychopathology, with longer term parental distress associated with worse youth mental health. Neurotoxicant exposure during pregnancy is a risk factor for both poor maternal and youth mental health. The impact of one class of pollutant, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), on long-term trajectories of maternal distress and youth self-reported mental health symptoms in adolescence has been understudied.
PAH exposure was measured by DNA adducts in maternal blood sampled during the third trimester of pregnancy. Maternal distress, operationalized as maternal demoralization, was measured at 11 timepoints (prenatal to child age 16). Adolescent mental health symptoms were measured at age 13-15. Follow up analyses examined a subset of measures available at age 15-20 years. Structural equation modeling examined associations between PAH exposure during pregnancy and latent growth metrics of maternal distress, and between maternal distress (intercept and slope) and youth mental health symptoms in a prospective longitudinal birth cohort (N = 564 dyads).
Higher prenatal PAH exposure was associated with higher concurrent maternal distress. Prenatal maternal distress was associated with adolescent's self-reported anxiety, depression, and externalizing problems. On average, maternal distress declined over time; a slower decline in mother's distress across the course of the child's life was associated with greater self-reported anxiety and externalizing problems in youth.
Our findings are consistent with an intergenerational framework of environmental effects on mental health: PAH exposure during pregnancy affects maternal mental health, which in turn influences mental health outcomes for youth well into adolescence. Future research is necessary to elucidate the possible social and biological mechanisms (e.g., parenting, epigenetics) underlying the intergenerational transmission of the negative effects of pollution on mental health in caregiver-child dyads.
父母的心理困扰是发育性精神病理学的一个众所周知的风险因素，长期的父母困扰与青少年较差的心理健康状况相关。孕期接触神经毒物是母亲和青少年心理健康不佳的一个风险因素。一类污染物，即多环芳烃（PAH），对母亲困扰的长期轨迹以及青少年自我报告的青春期心理健康症状的影响尚未得到充分研究。
通过在孕期第三个月采集的母亲血液中的DNA加合物来测量PAH暴露。将母亲困扰定义为母亲的士气低落，并在11个时间点（从产前到孩子16岁）进行测量。在13 - 15岁时测量青少年的心理健康症状。后续分析考察了15 - 20岁时可用的一部分测量指标。结构方程模型在前瞻性纵向出生队列（N = 564对）中检验孕期PAH暴露与母亲困扰的潜在增长指标之间的关联，以及母亲困扰（截距和斜率）与青少年心理健康症状之间的关联。
产前PAH暴露水平较高与同时期母亲较高的困扰相关。产前母亲困扰与青少年自我报告的焦虑、抑郁和外化问题相关。平均而言，母亲困扰随时间下降；在孩子成长过程中母亲困扰下降较慢与青少年更多的自我报告焦虑和外化问题相关。
我们的研究结果与环境对心理健康影响的代际框架一致：孕期PAH暴露影响母亲心理健康，进而影响青少年直至青春期的心理健康结果。未来有必要开展研究以阐明污染对照顾者 - 儿童二元组心理健康负面影响的代际传递背后可能的社会和生物学机制（如养育方式、表观遗传学）。
