SEARCHCOHORTpsychiatry, epidemiology

cohort·psychiatry, epidemiology, public health, neurology, pediatrics·PMC10092502

Early exposure to flame retardants is prospectively associated with anxiety symptoms in adolescents: A prospective birth cohort study

Depression and anxiety · 10 authors, 11 centres

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TL;DR

Using data from the HOME prospective birth cohort, gestational serum PBDE concentrations measured at 16 weeks of pregnancy were associated with increased anxiety symptoms in 236 adolescents at age 12 years. Each doubling of summed maternal PBDE concentrations was associated with a higher SCARED total score (β = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.3–2.9, p = .019).

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This prospective birth cohort study from the HOME Study examined associations between gestational serum polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations and anxiety symptoms in 236 adolescents at age 12. Five PBDE congeners were measured in maternal serum at 16 weeks of gestation and summed. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using the SCARED and CDI-2, respectively. After adjusting for covariates including child sex, maternal demographics, household income, and maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms, each doubling in maternal ∑PBDE was associated with increased SCARED total scores (β = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.3–2.9, p = .019). Depressive symptoms were not significantly associated (CDI total β = .8, 95% CI: −0.2–1.8, p = .11). Prenatal PBDE exposure was most consistently associated with panic and social anxiety symptoms. The authors noted that PBDEs affect GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems in preclinical models and that measurement at 16 weeks coincides with active neurogenesis and early synaptogenesis. Limitations include reliance on self-report measures, a single assessment at age 12 without longitudinal follow-up, lack of clinician diagnostic assessment, a single study site, and limited demographic generalizability.

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cohort

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psychiatry

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10092502

Early exposure to flame retardants is prospectively associated with anxiety symptoms in adolescents: A prospective birth cohort study

Depression and anxiety

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ABSTRACT

Background: Anxiety disorders emerge during childhood and adolescence and are frequently preceded by subsyndromal anxiety symptoms. Environmental toxicants, including gestational polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposure, are associated with neuropsychiatric sequelae; however, the role of PBDEs as risk factors for anxiety in adolescence is unclear. Methods: Using data from the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study, a prospective pregnancy and birth cohort enrolled from 2003 to 2006, we investigated the relationship between gestational serum PBDE concentrations and anxiety symptoms in adolescents ( N = 236). We measured five PBDE congeners (PBDE-28, −47, −99, −100, and −153) at 16 ± 3 weeks of gestation and calculated their sum ( ∑ PBDE ). We assessed self-reported anxiety symptoms using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) and depressive symptoms using the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI-2) at age 12 years. We estimated the associations of maternal PBDE concentrations with child anxiety and depressive symptoms using multivariable linear regression and modified Poisson regression. Covariates included child sex, maternal race, maternal age at delivery, maternal marital status, maternal education, and household income at the 12-year study visit as well as maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms. Sensitivity analyses were performed to control for maternal lead and mercury at delivery. Results: After adjusting for predetermined covariates, each doubling in maternal PBDE concentrations was associated with increased SCARED scores (e.g., for ∑ PBDE , SCARED total score, β = 1.6 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3-2.9, p = .019) and a nonsignificant increase in depressive symptoms (e.g., for CDI total score, β = .8, 95% CI: −0.2–1.8, p = .11). Conclusions: Gestational serum PBDE concentrations just before mid-pregnancy and during a period of active cortical and limbic neurogenesis, synaptogenesis and myelogenesis may be a risk factor for developing anxiety symptoms in early adolescence.

CITATION EXPORT

Jeffrey R. Strawn, Yingying Xu, Kim M. Cecil et al.. Early exposure to flame retardants is prospectively associated with anxiety symptoms in adolescents: A prospective birth cohort study. Depression and anxiety. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23284

AUTHORS

10 · 11 CENTRES

Jeffrey R. Strawn, Yingying Xu, Kim M. Cecil, Jane Khoury, Mekibib Altaye, Joseph M. Braun, Bruce P. Lanphear, Andreas Sjodin, Aimin Chen, Kimberly Yolton

1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Anxiety Disorders Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
2Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
3Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
4Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
5Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
6Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
7Department of Pediatrics, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
8Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
9BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
10Division of Laboratory Sciences, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
11Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA