BACKGROUND: Maternal alcohol consumption can adversely affect children's development, but the impact of paternal drinking is less understood. We aimed to investigate whether maternal or paternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy affected children's mental health and behavior. METHODS: A total of 2,013 parent-child triads from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood cohort were used. Data on alcohol consumption was obtained from questionnaires during pregnancy and after the child's birth. Mental health and behavior of children were assessed with Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The associations were tested using linear regression, adjusting for socio-demographic and psychosocial covariates. RESULTS: Increased maternal alcohol consumption was associated with higher total SDQ scores at ages 7, 11, and 18 years old when the outcomes were reported by mothers, but only at 11 years when reported by children. We did not observe any dose-response relationship, and the effect size did not change during the follow-up. The effects were observed across various domains of SDQ: in the emotional symptoms subscale at age 11, in the conduct problems subscale at ages 7 and 11, and in the hyperactivity/inattention subscale at age 18. Paternal alcohol consumption was not associated with SDQ. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with long-term effects on children's mental health and behavior, particularly when reported by mothers. No association was found between paternal alcohol consumption, suggesting that the results may stem from biological effects of alcohol or other factors beyond the direct exposure, potentially encompassing broader maternal psychosocial or behavioral characteristics.

• Keywords
• child development, cohort study, mental health of children, parental alcohol consumption,
• MeSH
• Child Behavior * MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Mothers * statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Fathers * statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Alcohol Drinking * adverse effects   epidemiology   MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects * epidemiology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Europe epidemiology   MeSH

IMPORTANCE: Maternal mental health problems during pregnancy are associated with altered neurodevelopment in offspring, but the long-term relationship between these prenatal risk factors and offspring brain structure in adulthood remains incompletely understood due to a paucity of longitudinal studies. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between exposure to maternal depression in utero and offspring brain age in the third decade of life, and to evaluate recent stressful life events as potential moderators of this association. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study examined the 30-year follow-up of a Czech prenatal birth cohort with a within-participant design neuroimaging component in young adulthood conducted from 1991 to 2022. Participants from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood prenatal birth cohort were recruited for 2 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-ups, one between ages 23 and 24 years (early 20s) and another between ages 28 and 30 years (late 20s). EXPOSURES: Maternal depression during pregnancy; stressful life events in the past year experienced by the young adult offspring. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Gap between estimated neuroanatomical vs chronological age at MRI scan (brain age gap estimation [BrainAGE]) calculated once in participants' early 20s and once in their late 20s, and pace of aging calculated as the differences between BrainAGE at the 2 MRI sessions in young adulthood. RESULTS: A total of 260 individuals participated in the second neuroimaging follow-up (mean [SD] age, 29.5 [0.6] years; 135 [52%] male); MRI data for both time points and a history of maternal depression were available for 110 participants (mean [SD] age, 29.3 [0.6] years; 56 [51%] male). BrainAGE in participants' early 20s was correlated with BrainAGE in their late 20s (r = 0.7, P < .001), and a previously observed association between maternal depression during pregnancy and BrainAGE in their early 20s persisted in their late 20s (adjusted R2 = 0.04; P = .04). However, no association emerged between maternal depression during pregnancy and the pace of aging between the 2 MRI sessions. The stability of the associations between maternal depression during pregnancy and BrainAGE was also supported by the lack of interactions with recent stress. In contrast, more recent stress was associated with greater pace of aging between the 2 MRI sessions, independent of maternal depression (adjusted R2 = 0.09; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this cohort study suggest that maternal depression and recent stress may have independent associations with brain age and the pace of aging, respectively, in young adulthood. Prevention and treatment of depression in pregnant mothers may have long-term implications for offspring brain development.

• MeSH
• Depression * MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult Children MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Cohort Studies MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Brain diagnostic imaging   MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH