Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Mary Branham
Maggie Guy
31 January 2017
The researchers behind this study have the intentions of expanding the knowledge of
specifically, Venlafaxine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The research method used
drugs being tested in this study have been known to harm fetal development, to the point of
having a stillbirth, so the hypothesis is not positive. The findings however, were not nearly to
This quasi-experimental design uses participants recruited from the Motherisk program at
the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. The people from this program are women
who had received counseling on the safety of taking medications while pregnant, such as
antidepressants. From this group of women, those who fit the criteria are grouped accordingly.
Group 1 consists of 62 participants who take Venlafaxine during pregnancy. Group 2 consists of
62 participants who take SSRIs during pregnancy. Group 3 consists of 54 participants who
Once all of the participants are determined the independent variable of maternal
depression and treatments is ready to be tested to see how they influence the children’s
neurocognitive and behavioral abilities. Depression in the mothers is defined by the DSM-IV
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and diagnosed by their psychiatrists. The treated women (groups 1-2), had the severity of their
depression recorded throughout their pregnancy and after delivery, via a 10-point visual
analogue scale. During the children’s examination, they had anthropometric measurements
recorded by physicians. To evaluate the children’s neurocognitive functioning, the children were
scored on The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Third Edition, which
measured full-scale IQ, verbal IQ, and performance IQ. The mothers from all four groups
completed the Child Behavior checklist, and Conners’ Parenting Scale to determine their
children’s behavioral patterns. These test measured the children’s rate of internalizing, and
externalizing problems, and total problems. The mothers from all four groups also had their
The results did not deviate significantly between the groups. The children from all
groups had similar anthropometric measures, but the children exposed to antidepressants had
11.3% diagnosed with poor neonatal adaptation signs. The children’s IQs were directly
correlated with their mother’s and the girls scored slightly higher than the boys, regardless of
what groups they were in. Behavioral, children in groups 1-3 had significantly more behavior
problems in all three categories; the more severe the mother’s depression during pregnancy the
more severe the behavior. Maternal depression was the common factor in the children’s
pregnancy, child’s sex, child’s age, nor maternal IQ were common factors, making for a strong
conclusion that maternal depression on its own, whether being pharmacologically treated or not,
can cause at least a predisposition of behavioral problems in their children. However, this is only
This article is relevant to class because it is a real life example on how different fetal
environments can impact development post-birth. This research is important in the real world,
because it the first study to specifically examine an initial outcome on children’s intelligence
from mothers who took antidepressants during their pregnancy. Although this study does not
provide all of the answers, its importance is found in the beginning of this research that effects
many depressed and treated pregnant women and the future of their children’s wellbeing.
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Works Cited
Nulman, I., Gideon Koren, Joanne Rovet, Maru Barrera, Ariel Pulver, David Streiner, Brain