Timing of Maternal Depression and Sex-specific Child Growth, the Upstate KIDS Study

OBJECTIVE: Equivocal findings have been reported between maternal depression and children’s growth possibly given limited attention to its disproportionate impact by child sex. We assessed the relationship between the timing of maternal depression and children’s growth in a population-based prospective birth cohort with particular attention to sex differences. METHODS: The Upstate KIDS Study comprised 4,394 children followed through 3 years of age from 2008 to 2010. Maternal depression was measured antenatally by linkage with hospital discharge records before delivery, and postnatally, by depressive symptoms reported from questionnaires. Child’s growth was measured by sex-and-age-specific weight, height, weight-for-height, and body mass index. Adjusted linear mixed effects models were used to estimate growth outcomes for the full sample and separately by plurality and sex. RESULTS: Antenatal depression was associated with lower weight-for-age (−0.24 z-score units; 95%CI: −0.43, −0.05) and height-for-age (−0.26; −0.51, −0.02) among singleton boys. Postnatal depressive symptoms were associated with higher weight-for-height (0.21; 0.01, 0.42) among singleton girls. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that antenatal depression was associated with lower weight and smaller height only for boys, while postnatal depressive symptom was associated with higher weight-for- height only for girls. Timing of depression and the mechanisms of sex-specific responses require further examination.