Detailed contribution information
| Contribution title | Foetal head growth and head circumference at birth in offspring of women with psychotic disorders and population-based controls |
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| Contribution code | D2.119 |
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| Form of presentation | Poster |
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| Abstract |
Aims Offspring of parents with psychotic disorders have a >50% increased risk to develop mental health problems. Aberrant brain development may underly this familial risk. We aimed to investigate differences in brain development, reflected in foetal head circumference (HC) growth trajectories and HC at birth, between offspring of women with a psychotic disorder and population-based controls. Methods We collected foetal ultrasonography assessments at 20, 30, and 36 weeks of gestational age (GA) from medical records of N = 140 pregnant women having a psychotic disorder diagnosis and their N = 168 offspring. In the Generation R study, ultrasonography assessments were performed in the first, second, and/or third trimester in N = 8605 pregnant women and their offspring. HC at birth was measured with measuring tape. Results Using generalized additive mixed modelling, we observed a less pronounced non-linear increase in foetal HC for offspring of women with psychotic disorders vs. controls from 30.7 weeks GA onwards. At birth, no significant difference was observed (b = 0.22, 95% CI = -0.133–0.573), although the offspring exposed to maternal psychosis showed more obstetric complications and a suboptimal birth outcome, including a lower birthweight (b = -136.1, 95% CI = -229.0–-43.2). Conclusions This study showed that foetal head growth decelerates during the third trimester and birthweight is lower in offspring of women with psychotic disorders. Together, these findings give us directions for possible underlying neural mechanisms during the prenatal phase related to the intergenerational transmission risk of mental illness. |