SynthesisPsychological medicine2013
Foetal origins of depression? A systematic review and meta-analysis of low birth weight and later depression.
Synthesis in Psychological medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of size at birth on health, growth and developmental outcomes in children up to age 18: an umbrella review.Archives of disease in childhood · 2023Pooled it
- Research Review: Developmental origins of depression - a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2021Pooled it
- Size at birth and cognitive ability in late life: A systematic review.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The association between age at menarche and subsequent risk of chronic pain.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Review
- Perinatal and neonatal factors and mental disorders in children and adolescents: looking for the contributions of the early environment to common and dissociable aspects of psychopathology.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- The association of early life factors with depression and anxiety in adults aged 40-69 years: a population-based cohort study.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Depression: A Review.Health psychology research · 2023Article
- Article
- Perinatal epidemiology: Issues, challenges, and potential solutions.Obstetric medicine · 2021Review
- Evaluating the effect of birth weight on brain volumes and depression: An observational and genetic study using UK Biobank cohort.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2020Article
- Article
- Association of Fetal Growth With General and Specific Mental Health Conditions.JAMA psychiatry · 2019Article
- Fetal Origins of Mental Disorders? An Answer Based on Mendelian Randomization.Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies · 2018Article
- Associations between maternal prenatal cortisol and fetal growth are specific to infant sex: findings from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study.Journal of developmental origins of health and disease · 2018Article
- Fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) rs9939609 polymorphism modifies the relationship between body mass index and affective symptoms through the life course: a prospective birth cohort study.Translational psychiatry · 2018Article
- Prenatal food restriction induces neurobehavioral abnormalities in adult female offspring rats and alters intrauterine programming.Toxicology research · 2018Article
- Birth weight in relation to health and disease in later life: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.BMC medicine · 2016Article
- Estimating the Roles of Genetic Risk, Perinatal Risk, and Marital Hostility on Early Childhood Adjustment: Medical Records and Self-Reports.Behavior genetics · 2016Article
- Low birth weight and features of neuroticism and mood disorder in 83 545 participants of the UK Biobank cohort.BJPsych open · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe foetal origins hypothesis suggests an association between low birth weight and later depression, yet evidence supporting this association has been inconsistent.
methodWe systematically reviewed evidence for an association between low birth weight and adult depression or psychological distress in the general population by meta-analysis. We searched EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO and ISI Web of Science for studies reporting observational data with low birth weight as the exposure and self- or clinician-rated depression or psychological distress measures as an outcome. Selective studies of exposures such as famine or outcomes such as severe illness only were excluded. Altogether,1454 studies were screened for relevance, 26 were included in the qualitative synthesis, 18 were included in the meta-analysis. A random effects meta-analysis method was used to obtain a pooled estimate of effect size.
resultsThe odds of depression or psychological distress was greater for those of low birth weight (<2500 g) compared to those of normal birth weight (>2500 g) or greater [odds ratio (OR) 1.15, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.00-1.32]. However, this association became non-significant after trim-and-fill correction for publication bias (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.92-1.27). Using meta-regression, no differences in effect size were observed by gender, outcome measure of depression or psychological distress, or whether the effect size was adjusted for possible confounders.
conclusionsWe found evidence to support a weak association between low birth weight and later depression or psychological distress, which may be due to publication bias. It remains possible that the association may vary according to severity of symptoms or other factors.
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