ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Europe2026
Prenatal maternal depression and child behavioural and developmental outcomes: an individual participant data meta-analysis in 76,514 children from the EU Child Cohort Network.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Europe, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Depression as a Cardiovascular Risk Marker in Pregnancy: Hypertensive and Arrhythmic Maternal Outcomes in a Retrospective Matched Cohort.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Prenatal maternal depression affects an estimated one in five women, with implications not only for the mother but also for the child, associating negatively with offspring mental health and cognition. This study aimed to investigate multiple outcomes within the same set of participants from multiple cohorts, explore sex-specific differences in associations, and examine of the role of timing of maternal depression. Methods: We performed large-scale individual participant data analyses with a sample size of up to 76,514 participants to investigate prospective associations between prenatal maternal depression and eight offspring behavioural and developmental outcomes, leveraging harmonised data from seven European birth cohorts. Cohort-specific estimates were combined using random-effects meta-analysis. Potential sex differences and the role of pre-pregnancy and postnatal depression in the associations were examined. Findings: Prenatal maternal depression was associated with higher internalising, externalising, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder symptoms (6.61-10.90 increased percentile scores). Associations were similar between males and females, largely independent of pre-pregnancy depression, and partially mediated by postnatal maternal depression. Continuous prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with all eight offspring outcomes. Interpretation: These findings emphasise the importance of prenatal maternal depression as a key developmental risk factor. Future work should consider how best to support mental health during pregnancy and children exposed to prenatal depression. Our results contribute to the growing evidence underscoring the need for early intervention and tailored support for those experiencing depression during pregnancy. Funding: HappyMums Project, funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement n.101057390).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.