Okelo Kenneth, Marryat Louise, Murray Aja, King Josiah, Hardie Iain, Boardman James P, Lombardo Michael V, Stock Sarah, Wood Rachael, Auyeung Bonnie
Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
School of Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Arch Public Health. 2025 Mar 27;83(1):82. doi: 10.1186/s13690-025-01572-w.
The number of reported maternal mental health (MH) difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic was higher than during the pre-pandemic period. Findings on the link between the COVID-19 pandemic and children's developmental outcomes suggest lower scores on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) among children born during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic cohorts. The present study explored the interaction between maternal MH and being born during the COVID-19 pandemic on children's developmental outcomes. Furthermore, it examined the combined effect of maternal MH and birth during the pandemic on children's developmental outcomes.
This study used a linked administrative dataset from Scotland. Children born between 1st March 2020 and 30th June 2021, inclusive (n = 32,683), and a comparative historical cohort that included those born between 1st April 2017 and 31st October 2018 in Scotland (n = 50,257) were included. Regression models were used to adjust for covariates, with outcomes such as ASQ-3 scores and developmental concerns and predictors such as maternal MH and birth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A history of MH hospital admission was associated with increased odds of developmental concerns: OR = 1.038, 95% CI [1.012, 1.064], p = 0.004** and reduced ASQ-3 scores (effect size = 0.130, 95% CI [-0.204, -0.056], p < 0.001***). There were mixed findings on the association between being born during the COVID-19 pandemic (developmental concerns: OR = 1.024, 95% CI [1.019, 1.029], p < 0.001***) and ASQ-3 scores (ES = 0.012, 95% CI [-0.002, 0.025], p = 0.08) but no interaction between a history of MH hospital admission and birth during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was an interaction effect on mental health assessed by psychiatric outpatient attendance records association and birth during the COVID-19 pandemic on the ASQ-3 scores SD; -0.07 (ES =-0.066, 95% CI [-0.106, -0.027], p < 0.001***).
Our findings suggest that being born during the COVID-19 pandemic and maternal MH influenced child development with relatively small effects, with mixed findings on their combined presence. Our study only examined developmental outcomes up to age 13-15 months. Future studies should explore the potential long-term effects of being born during the pandemic and MH.
新冠疫情期间报告的孕产妇心理健康问题数量高于疫情前。关于新冠疫情与儿童发育结果之间联系的研究结果表明，与疫情前出生的队列相比，新冠疫情期间出生的儿童在年龄与发育进程问卷（ASQ - 3）上的得分较低。本研究探讨了孕产妇心理健康状况与在新冠疫情期间出生对儿童发育结果的相互作用。此外，还研究了孕产妇心理健康状况与疫情期间出生对儿童发育结果的综合影响。
本研究使用了来自苏格兰的关联行政数据集。纳入了2020年3月1日至2021年6月30日（含）期间出生的儿童（n = 32683），以及一个对照历史队列，其中包括2017年4月1日至2018年10月31日在苏格兰出生的儿童（n = 50257）。使用回归模型对协变量进行调整，以年龄与发育进程问卷（ASQ - 3）得分、发育问题等结果为因变量，以孕产妇心理健康状况和新冠疫情期间出生等因素为预测变量。
有心理健康住院史与发育问题几率增加相关：优势比（OR）= 1.038，95%置信区间[1.012, 1.064]，p = 0.004**，且年龄与发育进程问卷（ASQ - 3）得分降低（效应量 = 0.130，95%置信区间[-0.204, -0.056]，p < 0.001***）。关于在新冠疫情期间出生与发育问题（优势比（OR）= 1.024，95%置信区间[1.019, 1.029]，p < 0.001***）以及年龄与发育进程问卷（ASQ - 3）得分（效应量（ES）= 0.012，95%置信区间[-0.002, 0.025]，p = 0.08）之间的关联存在不一致的研究结果，但心理健康住院史与新冠疫情期间出生之间没有相互作用。然而，通过精神科门诊就诊记录评估的心理健康状况与新冠疫情期间出生对年龄与发育进程问卷（ASQ - 3）得分标准差存在相互作用效应；-0.07（效应量（ES）=-0.066，95%置信区间[-0.106, -0.027]，p < 0.001***）。
我们的研究结果表明，在新冠疫情期间出生和孕产妇心理健康状况对儿童发育有影响，但影响相对较小，且对于它们共同存在时的影响存在不一致的研究结果。我们的研究仅考察了13至15个月大儿童的发育结果。未来的研究应探讨在疫情期间出生和孕产妇心理健康状况的潜在长期影响。
