Maternal perinatal depression and the risk of disruptive behavioural disorder symptoms among offspring: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Inconsistent findings exist regarding the association between maternal perinatal depression and the risk of Disruptive Behavioural Disorder (DBD) symptoms, including Conduct Disorder (CD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) symptoms in children and adolescents. This study aimed to estimate the overall risk of DBD symptoms in offspring of mothers who have experienced perinatal depression. PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and Psych INFO were searched. A meta-analysis was conducted using inverse variance-weighted random-effects models. The odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were presented as summary effect estimates. Among the 4,591 publications identified, 12 studies, comprising 51,468 mother-offspring pairs were included in the final analysis. A meta-analysis showed that maternal perinatal depression was associated with a 47 % increased risk of any DBD symptoms (OR = 1.47, 95 % CI = 1.18-1.76), a 41 % increased risk of CD symptoms (OR = 1.41, 95 % CI = 1.04-1.77), and a 53 % increased risk of ODD symptoms (OR = 1.53, 95 % CI = 1.11-1.94) in offspring. This meta-analysis highlights a significant link between maternal perinatal depression and an elevated risk of DBD symptoms in children and adolescents, underscoring the importance of timely interventions and support for at-risk children and adolescents.