Prenatal maternal stress events and phenotypic outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Kandice J Varcin Gail A AlvaresMirko UljarevićAndrew J O Whitehouse

Published in: Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research (2017)

There is emerging evidence that prenatal maternal stress may increase the risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and contribute to variability in autism-like traits in the general population. Here, we found that more stressful life events experienced during pregnancy was associated with more severe ASD-related symptoms and poorer communication abilities amongst children with ASD. The results from this study suggest that prenatal maternal stress exposure and its sequelae may contribute to variability in symptom severity amongst children with ASD.

Keyphrases

autism spectrum disorder
intellectual disability
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
pregnant women
birth weight
pregnancy outcomes
young adults
stress induced
early onset
heat stress
type diabetes
genome wide
gene expression
physical activity
skeletal muscle
patient reported