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During and just after pregnancy, maternal depression and anxiety can have a profound impact on the developing child. How strongly do a mother’s own adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) influence her mood and anxiety symptoms when she is pregnant and in the postpartum period? Is the past inescapable, perhaps even for her own child?
Hi! Jim Phelps here for the Psychopharmacology Institute. You might be surprised to hear that the evidence linking ACEs to maternal mental health during pregnancy is not absolutely clear cut. The authors of a new meta-analysis examined multiple studies of maternal perinatal depression or anxiety scores where ACEs scores were available for those women.
The ACEs Questionnaire was developed by Drs. Anda and Felitti in the late 1990s. There are variations, but scoring is generally 0 to 10 regarding questions about physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and domestic violence. For example, neglect questions include: How often
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