Rebecca Pearson (University of Bristol) - The impact of maternal mental health on long-term offspring development: identifying and understanding modifiable pathways

Maternal mental health problems are common, can disrupt parenting processes and increases the risk of a range of psychological disorders in offspring. Understanding modifiable pathways is important to inform when and how to intervene, in order to minimise the impact  on offspring. I will present work from my PhD and postdoctoral studies, which have investigated how maternal mental health may impact the offspring. I will discuss potential pathways in utero as well as those involving early mother-infant interactions and finally the role of genetic transmission. This will include work from smaller detailed psychological studies as well as epidemiological investigations from large cohort studies in the UK and Brazil as well as record linkage data in Sweden.