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Alcohol use during pregnancy tied to adolescent depression in offspring

Children born to women who consume alcohol during pregnancy may have a higher risk of developing depression in late adolescence, a new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests.

Researchers at the University of Bristol analysed data of 14,541 pregnant women from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which included 4191 women who had consumed alcohol between 18 weeks and 32 weeks of pregnancy, and diagnoses of depression at age 18 years in their offspring. Alcohol use of partners was also examined.

The findings showed that children whose mothers drank alcohol at 18 weeks of pregnancy may have up to 17 per cent higher risk for depression by age 18 years compared with children whose mothers did not drink alcohol. There was little evidence of any association between partner drinking and depression in offspring during adolescence.

Dr Kayleigh Easey, the study's lead author, said: "This study also illustrates the importance of considering partner behaviours as well as maternal behaviours – both to help identify causal relationship, and because these may be important in their own right.”

“Many of the indirect factors that could explain the maternal effects are shared between mothers and partners (such as socio-demographic factors); despite this, we only found associations for mothers drinking."


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