It seems logical that if a mother is under significant stress during pregnancy that the child may be at increased risk for some problems. Research is beginning to accumulate that confirms this belief, and a report at the BBC discusses new research in the area. Specifically, a recent study found that women experiencing relationship stress during pregnancy had children with lower IQ and higher anxiety.

The work suggests maternal stress is a true risk factor in its own right, although Professor Glover acknowledged that genetic factors and home environment after birth would also have an impact on a child’s development.

This type of work holds some promise in establishing new risk factors for some psychological problems, and also highlights new routes of prevention. Ideally, these results can be read widely enough to convince future parents that the health of their own relationship has a direct impact on their child’s brain development above and beyond the influence of the home environment.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 28 Jan 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.