ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2012
Prenatal psychobiological predictors of anxiety risk in preadolescent children.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 120 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
120 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 254 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of maternal prenatal and postnatal anxiety on children's emotional problems: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Infant hippocampal and amygdala volume in an observational follow-up from a randomized clinical trial for maternal prenatal depression.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Exploring the effect of antenatal depression treatment on children's epigenetic profiles: findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial.Clinical epigenetics · 2019Trial
- An experimental test of the fetal programming hypothesis: Can we reduce child ontogenetic vulnerability to psychopathology by decreasing maternal depression?Development and psychopathology · 2018Trial
- Effects of a psychosocial couple-based prevention program on adverse birth outcomes.Maternal and child health journal · 2015Trial
- A prospective cohort study of antipsychotic medications in pregnancy: the first 147 pregnancies and 100 one year old babies.PloS one · 2014Trial
- Loss of pleasure (Anhedonia): A sex-dependent, cross-species consequence of unpredictable signals to the perinatal brain.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Prenatal Maternal Stress, Socioeconomic and Cultural Determinants, and Early Childhood Physical and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: Evidence from a Prospective Cohort Study in Georgia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Prenatal Maternal Stress, Socioeconomic and Cultural Determinants, and Early Childhood Physical and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: Evidence From a Prospective Cohort Study in Georgia.Research square · 2026Article
- Sex-specific associations between prenatal maternal mental health and child behavior problems at age 7: A (multi-center) longitudinal study of socially disadvantaged mother-child dyads.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Fetal Cortisol Exposure and Offspring Socioemotional Development.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal associations between maternal and child screen use at 1 year of age and child behavior and development at 3 years of age.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Cortisol as a Mediator of Prenatal Distress and Difficult Infant Temperament: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Intergenerational transmission of maternal prenatal anxiety to infant fearfulness: the mediating role of mother-infant bonding.Archives of women's mental health · 2025Article
- Intergenerational Effects of Stress - A Focus on Learning and Memory.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- The Impact of Early Life Experiences on Stress Neurobiology and the Development of Anxiety.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Behavioral moderators ofFrontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Prenatal Maternal Mindfulness as a Predictor of Infant Emerging Effortful Control and Negative Affect.Mindfulness · 2025Article
- Differential susceptibility to prenatal stress exposure in serotonin transporter-deficient female mice-an epigenetic exploration.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Associations between individual and structural level discrimination and psychological and physiological stress indicators during pregnancy.npj women's health · 2025Article
60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Experimental animal models have demonstrated that one of the primary consequences of prenatal stress is increased fear and anxiety in the offspring. Few prospective human studies have evaluated the consequences of prenatal stress on anxiety during preadolescence. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the consequences of prenatal exposure to both maternal biological stress signals and psychological distress on anxiety in preadolescent children. Participants included 178 mother-child pairs. Maternal psychological distress (general anxiety, perceived stress, depression and pregnancy-specific anxiety) and biological stress signals were evaluated at 19, 25, and 31 gestational weeks. Anxiety was evaluated in the children at 6-9 years of age using the Child Behavior Checklist. Analyses revealed that prenatal exposure to elevated maternal cortisol, depression, perceived stress and pregnancy-specific anxiety was associated with increased anxiety in children. These associations remained after considering obstetric, sociodemographic and postnatal maternal psychological distress; factors that could influence child development. When all of the prenatal measures were considered together, cortisol and pregnancy-specific anxiety independently predicted child anxiety. Children exposed to elevated prenatal maternal cortisol and pregnancy-specific anxiety were at an increased risk for developing anxiety problems during the preadolescent period. This project identifies prenatal risk factors associated with lasting consequences for child mental health and raises the possibility that reducing maternal distress during the prenatal period will have long term benefits for child well-being.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.