International study finds antidepressant use in pregnancy does not increase autism or ADHD risk after controlling genetic factors Hong Kong

  • University of Hong Kong study in The Lancet Psychiatry finds antidepressant use during pregnancy does not increase autism or ADHD risk in children after adjustments.

  • Meta-analysis covered 37 studies, involving over 25 million non-users and nearly 600,000 antidepressant users during pregnancy.

  • Initial links showing higher ADHD and autism risk disappeared after controlling for genetics, maternal mental health and family history.

  • Researchers suggest inherited and environmental factors, not medication itself, explain earlier observed risk increases.

  • Study notes no major dose-related risk differences and highlights importance of continued treatment for maternal mental health when needed.

A recent international study finds antidepressant use in pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, even after accounting for preexisting mental health conditions and genetic factors.

The University of Hong Kong researchers' study, which was published in The Lancet Psychiatry, looked at data from 37 initial studies involving more than 25 million pregnant women who did not take antidepressants and nearly six hundred thousand pregnant women who did.

Antidepressant usage during pregnancy seemed to be associated with a 35 percent increased risk of ADHD and a 69 percent increased risk of autism in offspring, according to early studies. However, after controlling for major difficult variables, such as the mother's pre-existing mental health conditions, family history and genetic influences, the researchers reported that the relationships disappeared.

The meta-analysis came to the end that antidepressants did not raise children's risk of neurodevelopmental circumstances. Rather, genetic or environmental factors linked to mental health conditions were more likely to be responsible for the higher risk seen in the prior study.

The study's lead author, Dr. Wing-Chung Chang, stated that the results should calm parents who are worried about taking antidepressants while pregnant. Also, he added that they know many concerns of expecting parents about the potential effort of taking medicine during pregnancy. Their study provides reassuring proof that commonly used antidepressants do not increase the risk of autism or ADHD in children.

Additionally, he stated that stopping antidepressant medicine while pregnant could be unsafe, especially for women with mild to severe depression, since untreated mental illness can result in pregnancy problems and relapse.

Children whose fathers took antidepressants and mothers who used antidepressants before but not during pregnancy likewise showed the same heightened risk patterns in children’s risk of having antidepressants in pregnancy. According to the study, this provides credence to the idea that heredity and broader mental health problems, rather than the drug itself, are probably at fault.

Thus, Business Fortune is of the view that antidepressant use during pregnancy is generally safe when medically guided and monitored.