BACKGROUND: Maternal perinatal mental health is essential for optimal brain development and mental health of the offspring. We evaluated whether maternal depression during the perinatal period and early life of the offspring might be selectively associated with altered brain function during emotion regulation and whether those may further correlate with physiological responses and the typical use of emotion regulation strategies. METHODS: Participants included 163 young adults (49% female, 28-30 years) from the ELSPAC prenatal birth cohort who took part in its neuroimaging follow-up and had complete mental health data from the perinatal period and early life. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured mid-pregnancy, 2 weeks, 6 months, and 18 months after birth. Regulation of negative affect was studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging, concurrent skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate variability (HRV), and assessment of typical emotion regulation strategy. RESULTS: Maternal depression 2 weeks after birth interacted with sex and showed a relationship with greater brain response during emotion regulation in a right frontal cluster in women. Moreover, this brain response mediated the relationship between greater maternal depression 2 weeks after birth and greater suppression of emotions in young adult women (ab = 0.11, SE = 0.05, 95% CI [0.016; 0.226]). The altered brain response during emotion regulation and the typical emotion regulation strategy were also as sociated with SCR and HRV. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that maternal depression 2 weeks after birth predisposes female offspring to maladaptive emotion regulation skills and particularly to emotion suppression in young adulthood.

• Keywords
• emotion regulation, fMRI, heart rate variability, maternal perinatal depression, prenatal birth cohort, skin conductance,
• MeSH
• Depression * physiopathology   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Emotional Regulation * physiology   MeSH
• Galvanic Skin Response physiology   MeSH
• Birth Cohort MeSH
• Pregnancy Complications * physiopathology   psychology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging MeSH
• Mothers * psychology   MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Brain * physiopathology   diagnostic imaging   MeSH
• Heart Rate physiology   MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Heavy maternal alcohol drinking during pregnancy has been associated with altered neurodevelopment in the child but the effects of low-dose alcohol drinking are less clear and any potential safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy is not known. We evaluated the effects of prenatal alcohol on reward-related behavior and substance use in young adulthood and the potential sex differences therein. Participants were members of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) prenatal birth cohort who participated in its neuroimaging follow-up in young adulthood. A total of 191 participants (28-30 years; 51% men) had complete data on prenatal exposure to alcohol, current substance use, and fMRI data from young adulthood. Maternal alcohol drinking was assessed during mid-pregnancy and pre-conception. Brain response to reward anticipation and reward feedback was measured using the Monetary Incentive Delay task and substance use in young adulthood was assessed using a self-report questionnaire. We showed that even a moderate exposure to alcohol in mid-pregnancy but not pre-conception was associated with robust effects on brain response to reward feedback (six frontal, one parietal, one temporal, and one occipital cluster) and with greater cannabis use in both men and women 30 years later. Moreover, mid-pregnancy but not pre-conception exposure to alcohol was associated with greater cannabis use in young adulthood and these effects were independent of maternal education and maternal depression during pregnancy. Further, the extent of cannabis use in the late 20 s was predicted by the brain response to reward feedback in three out of the nine prenatal alcohol-related clusters and these effects were independent of current alcohol use. Sex differences in the brain response to reward outcome emerged only during the no loss vs. loss contrast. Young adult men exposed to alcohol prenatally had significantly larger brain response to no loss vs. loss in the putamen and occipital region than women exposed to prenatal alcohol. Therefore, we conclude that even moderate exposure to alcohol prenatally has long-lasting effects on brain function during reward processing and risk of cannabis use in young adulthood.

• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging * MeSH
• Brain * diagnostic imaging   drug effects   physiopathology   MeSH
• Reward * MeSH
• Alcohol Drinking * psychology   adverse effects   MeSH
• Sex Factors MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects * physiopathology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH