1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«As part of Project Ice Storm, the current study aimed to determine the association between PNMS [prenatal maternal stress] and severity of autism-like traits in a sample of prenatally exposed children at age 6½ years.» (p. 354)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«In line with a dimensional model of psychopathology, we hypothesized that greater severity of objective and/or subjective PNMS would be associated with more severe autism-like trait ratings of the offspring during early childhood, with the magnitude of this effect being greater among boys than girls.» (p. 354)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Following the ice storm, we identified 1140 women who had been pregnant during the ice storm with help from the offices of doctors who deliver babies in the four regional hospitals south-east of Montreal. […] Eighty-nine women completed the questionnaire packet, sent by mail, when their children were 6½ years of age. These women were in their first (n=28), second (n=33) or third (n=28) trimester of pregnancy during the ice storm» (p. 354-355)

Instruments :
- Storm32 Scale
- Impact of Event Scale – Revised
- Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire
- General Health Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«In the final multivariate model, greater objective hardship and subjective distress strongly predicted autism-like traits in exposed offspring, above and beyond contributions of other predictors and potential confounds. Consistent with some prior literature demonstrating maternal psychopathology and life events are significant risk factors for ASD [autism spectrum disorders] (Larsson etal.,2005), postpartum depression and perinatal life events (but not other potential confounds) contributed substantially to the model, accounting for 11.6% of variance in children’s ASSQ [Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire] scores. Child sex accounted for a significant 4.8% of the variance in ASSQ scores in the expected direction: male sex was associated with more severe ASSQ scores. This association did not hold, however, after timing of exposure and the two interaction terms entered into the model. Contrary to prediction, child sex was not a moderator, suggesting males were not more vulnerable to PNMS effects than females. This may have been due to the relatively small sample size and, in turn, limited power to detect statistically significant interactions. The significant objective hardship subjective distress interaction suggests that high levels of subjective distress were associated with increased levels of autism-like traits regardless of the magnitude of objective hardship. When subjective distress was low, however, more severe objective hardship was strongly associated with ASSQ scores.» (p. 357)