HOUSEHOLD CHAOS, MATERNAL DEPRESSION AND PRENATAL SSRI EXPOSURE INTERACT TO AFFECT EXECUTIVE FUNCTION OF 6 YEAR OLD CHILDREN

Abstract

CONCLUSION: The degree of susceptibility to household CHAOS depended on whether mothers were prenatally depressed and whether mothers were treated with an SSRI. Children who had prenatally symptomatic mothers were not affected by home chaos. Children of not particularly symptomatic mothers were affected by home chaos - the degree to which they were affected depended on prenatal exposure to an SSRI. Children exposed to SSRIs prenatally were more susceptible to higher levels of home chaos, reflecting that they had better self-regulation in low levels of CHAOS and poorer self-regulation with high levels of CHAOS than the children not exposed to SSRIs prenatally, suggesting a “vantage sensitivity”. In this way prenatal depressed maternal mood may “buffer” a child against a subsequently chaotic home environment. Moreover, prenatal SSRI exposure appeared to increase a susceptibility to home CHAOS especially when the mothers were not particularly symptomatic during pregnancy.