Adverse Prenatal Exposures Linked to Alterations in Psychopathology

FRIDAY, Jan. 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Multiple adverse prenatal exposures (APEs) are associated with altered developmental trajectories of psychopathology and cortical maturation into adolescence, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Dongmei Zhi, Ph.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined longitudinal associations among cumulative APE burden in a cohort study using four-year follow-up data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which enrolled youth aged 9 to 10 years beginning in 2016. A sibling comparison analysis was performed on 414 sibling pairs with discordant APEs. Cumulative APE burden was calculated by summing six APEs: unplanned pregnancy; early maternal prenatal alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana use; complicated pregnancy; and complicated birth.

The analyses included 8,515 singleton children, of whom 78 percent were exposed to at least one APE. The researchers found that multiple APEs were persistently and dose-dependently associated with elevated odds of clinically significant psychopathology (Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL] total problems: odds ratios, 2.01, 3.82, and 6.75 with exposure to one, two, and three or more APEs, respectively). Over time, associations of APEs with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms attenuated, while associations with depressive symptoms potentiated. In 36 of 68 cortical regions, there was an association for greater APE burden with accelerated age-related cortical thinning. Persistently higher CBCL total problems were seen for siblings with more exposures, and accelerated cortical thinning was seen in five of the 36 regions implicated in the larger sample.

“Early intervention is the key, which is why knowledge is so valuable. Knowing what could be risk factors is important in routine care — not only prenatal care but also pediatric screening and intervention when necessary,” lead author Jodi Gilman, Ph.D., also from Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a statement.

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