1. Objectifs

Intentions :
The study focuses «on the relationship between perinatal stress and age at first FS [febrile seizure] in humans.» (p. 96)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We hypothesized that exposure to higher levels of perinatal maternal symptoms would be associated with a younger age at first FS.» (p. 96)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«This research project is a substudy of the large-scale longitudinal 3D (Design, Develop, Discover) cohort study of the Integrated Research Network in Perinatalogy of Quebec and Eastern Ontario (IRNPQEO), from which two subgroup[s] of participants were drawn. […] Participants were recruited from nine urban clinical centers in three metropolitan areas in the province of Quebec (Canada), accounting for more than half of the population of Quebec. […] Thus, 2366 pregnant women, between 18 and 45 years of age, participated in the study.» (p. 96)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

The data shows that «increased maternal anxiety symptoms during the second trimester of pregnancy and increased maternal depression symptoms at 3 months postpartum predict the variance in age at first FS. Our results support a link between perinatal maternal self-reported emotional symptoms and FS in humans. The specific nature of the mechanisms underlying this association remains to be revealed. […] Interestingly, our results regarding prenatal maternal symptoms only show a link between the second trimester and the age at first FS, although mothers reported higher levels of emotional symptoms during the first trimester. Furthermore, our results show that postnatal reported symptoms of depression may have an additional impact on the age at first FS, independent from prenatally reported symptoms. Postnatal exposure to symptoms related to stress, like prenatal exposure, can lead to neuroatanomical and neuroendocrinal alterations making children respond to stress differently from than their peers.» (p. 99)