A first-of-its-kind NZ study has linked mothers’ smoking, stress and deprivation around pregnancy to depression in children and adolescents It comes at a time youth depression rates are rising, with nearly a quarter of adolescents reporting symptoms The study authors say their findings raise the need for intervention efforts Children whose mothers smoked, suffered poor mental health or lived in deprivation around the time of pregnancy could be at greater risk of depression in later life. That’s according to a first-of-its-kind New Zealand study that’s laid out potential intervention steps for at-risk mums at a time youth depression rates have been sharply rising . While the reasons behind that trend are complex, the University of Auckland study turned to possible factors at the very start of children’s lives – the “perinatal” period of pregnancy and 12 months after.
The study team, led by PhD researcher Francesca Pigatto, began looking closer at the issue after observing concerning depression symptoms in children tracked by the longitudinal Growing Up in New Zealand study when they were just 8 years old..