Cited by 273Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumBirth, Development, and HealthPrenatal Substance Exposure Effects

Prenatal maternal stress, fetal programming, and mechanisms underlying later psychopathology—A global perspective

Glover, Vivette, O'Donnell, Kieran J, O'Connor, Thomas G, Fisher, Jane·2018·Development and Psychopathology

Abstract

There is clear evidence that the mother's stress, anxiety, or depression during pregnancy can alter the development of her fetus and her child, with an increased risk for later psychopathology. We are starting to understand some of the underlying mechanisms including the role of the placenta, gene-environment interactions, epigenetics, and specific systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cytokines. In this review we also consider how these effects may be different, and potentially exacerbated, in different parts of the world. There can be many reasons for elevated prenatal stress, as in communities at war. There may be raised pregnancy-specific anxiety with high levels of maternal and infant death. There can be raised interpersonal violence (in Afghanistan 90.2% of women thought that "wife beating" was justified compared with 2.0% in Argentina). There may be interactions with nutritional deficiencies or with extremes of temperature. Prenatal stress alters the microbiome, and this can differ in different countries. Genetic differences in different ethnic groups may make some more vulnerable or more resilient to the effects of prenatal stress on child neurodevelopment. Most research on these questions has been in predominantly Caucasian samples from high-income countries. It is now time to understand more about prenatal stress and psychopathology, and the role of both social and biological differences, in the rest of the world.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s095457941800038x

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  • The prenatal environment has far-reaching consequences for child development.

    “First, the prenatal environment has far‐reaching consequences for child development (Glover, O'Donnell, O'Connor, & Fisher, 2018)”

    From Birth of a Father: Fathering in the First 1,000 Days (2019) · cites this paper as Glover et al., 2018

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Authors
Glover, V., O'Donnell, K. J., O'Connor, T. G., & Fisher, J.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Monash University (AU)
Corresponding author
Glover, Vivette
Venue
Development and Psychopathology
Published
2018-08
Volume
30
Issue
3
Pages
843-854
ISSN
  • 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2198
OpenAlex
W2885071751
Cited by
271
References
141
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 3
FWCI
20.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
Keywords
prenatal stress, maternal depression, maternal anxiety, fetal programming, psychopathology, placenta, gene-environment interaction, epigenetics, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, cytokines, interpersonal violence, war, nutritional deficiency, temperature extremes, microbiome, ethnic differences, child neurodevelopment, cross-cultural comparison
MeSH terms
Anxiety Disorders, Mental Disorders, Brain, Child, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Depressive Disorder, Developing Countries, Female, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Infant, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Psychopathology, Psychosocial Deprivation, Risk Factors, Social Environment, Stress, Psychological, Fetal Development

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