Development Delays Minor After Antidepressant Exposure

Children with prenatal exposure to antidepressants show signs of delays in some but not all developmental indicators early in life, two recent European studies showed, but researchers noted as well that maternal depression during pregnancy poses its own risks for the child's mental outcomes.

In one study, children who were exposed to antidepressants during their mother's second or third trimester showed delays in motor functions at 6 months of age compared with children who had no fetal exposure to antidepressants. However, at 19 months, the difference in measurements of gross motor function was no longer significant between children with and without prenatal antidepressant exposure.

Although the children with second or third trimester antidepressant exposure were able to sit and walk 15.9 days and 28.9 days later, respectively, than children with no antidepressant exposure, these milestones were still within the normal range of development.

The children's developmental milestones, such as the ability to sit without support, move around, and perform certain tasks, were assessed using structured telephone interviews with the mothers. Depressive symptoms and antidepressant use were determined through interviews during pregnancy.

The children's other developmental milestones, including auditory and social development at six months, and cognition, gross and fine motor functioning, and language development at 19 months, were not affected by antidepressant exposure in the second and third trimesters.

The study was published in Pediatrics online on February 22 and in the journal's March print issue. The research was funded by the Lundbeck Foundation, the National Danish Research Foundation, Aarhus University, other organizations.

The researchers, led by Lars Henning Pederson, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institute of Public Health at Aarhus University in Denmark, also assessed other developmental milestones. They found no significant association between antidepressant exposure and significant developmental delays in these areas, except for an indicator of attention, at 19 months. The exception was that children with exposure to antidepressants in the second or third trimester were statistically significantly less likely to occupy themselves for at least 15 minutes at that age.

The use of antidepressants in the first trimester was not associated with any significant developmental delays compared with children without exposure.