Weekly Roundup for AUGUST 5, 2022: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health

Every week we review the most recent publications in women’s mental health, covering topics related to premenstrual symptoms, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, use of medications in pregnant and breastfeeding women, perinatal substance use, and menopausal mental health.

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And don’t forget to visit ESSENTIAL READS – a curated selection of up-to-date and clinically relevant articles in women’s mental health.

Ruta Nonacs, MD PhD

PMS AND PMDD

No articles this week

INFERTILITY AND MENTAL HEALTH

Progression of depression and anxiety symptoms in pregnancies conceived by assisted reproductive technology in the United States.

Simoni MK, Gilstad-Hayden K, Naqvi SH, Pal L, Yonkers KA. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2022 Jun;43(2):214-223.

Women who conceive via ART have different rates of change in depressive symptoms throughout gestation compared to women with spontaneous pregnancies.

PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS DURING PREGNANCY

Efficacy and Safety of Transcranial Electric Stimulation during the Perinatal Period: A Systematic Literature Review and Three Case Reports.

Laurin A, Nard N, Dalmont M, Bulteau S, Bénard C, Bonnot O, Winer N, Dupont F, Apter G, Terranova-Commessie F, Guillin O, El-Hage W, Sauvaget A, Rothärmel M. J Clin Med. 2022 Jul 13;11(14):4048. Free article.

Seven studies reporting on 33 women during the perinatal period met the eligibility criteria. No serious adverse effects for the mother or child were reported.

Screening for adverse childhood experiences in antenatal care settings: A scoping review.

Tran N, Callaway L, Shen S, Biswas T, Scott JG, Boyle F, Mamun A. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2022 Jul 31.

MEDICATIONS AND PREGNANCY

Risk of major malformations in infants after first-trimester exposure to benzodiazepines: Results from the Massachusetts General Hospital National Pregnancy Registry for Psychiatric Medications.

Szpunar MJ, Freeman MP, Kobylski LA, Caplin PS, Gaccione P, Viguera AC, Chitayat D, Hernández-Días S, Cohen LS. Depress Anxiety. 2022 Jul 31.

This study compared outcomes in 151 women who had taken a benzodiazepine during the first trimester and a comparison group of 902 unexposed women. There were 5 (3.21%) major malformations in the exposure group and 32 (3.46%) in the comparison group (odds ratio 0.92; 95% confidence interval 0.35-2.41).

POSTPARTUM PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS

Antepartum sleep quality, mental status, and postpartum depressive symptoms: a mediation analysis.

Wang Y, Liu H, Zhang C, et al. BMC Psychiatry. 2022;22(1):521.

Poor sleep quality and anxiety symptoms in pregnancy mediated the relationship between antepartum depressive symptoms and postpartum depressive symptoms. Interventions aimed at detecting and managing sleep quality and elevated anxiety among depressed women in pregnancy warrant further investigation as preventative strategies for postpartum depression.

Exploring associations between postpartum depression and oxytocin levels in cerebrospinal fluid, plasma and saliva.

Chen Q, Zhuang J, Zuo R, Zheng H, Dang J, Wang Z. a [published online ahead of print, 2022 Jul 30]. J Affect Disord. 2022; S0165-0327(22)00820-5.

Oxytocin concentrations in CSF, plasma, and saliva were negatively correlated with EPDS scores, and were valuable for the prediction of PPD.

The Association Between Time-To-Pregnancy and Postpartum Depressive Symptoms in a North American Prospective Cohort Study.

Nillni YI, Crowe HM, Yland JJ, Wesselink AK, Wise LA. Ann Epidemiol. 2022 Jul 25:S1047-2797(22)00151-X.

There was a modest positive dose-response association between delayed conception and PPD. Perceived stress in early pregnancy may explain a small proportion of this association.

MEDICATIONS AND BREASTFEEDING

No articles this week

PERINATAL SUBSTANCE USE

No articles this week

MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH AND CHILD OUTCOMES

Birth Experience Mediates the Association Between Fear of Childbirth and Mother-Child-Bonding Up to 14 Months Postpartum: Findings From the Prospective Cohort Study DREAM.

Seefeld L, Weise V, Kopp M, Knappe S, Garthus-Niegel S. Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 20;12:776922. Free article.

Maternal Schizophrenia and the Risk of a Childhood Chronic Condition.

Vigod SN, Ray JG, Cohen E, Wilton AS, Saunders NR, Barker LC, Berard A, Dennis CL, Holloway AC, Morrison K, Oberlander TF, Hanley G, Tu K, Brown HK. Schizophr Bull. 2022 Jul 28:sbac091.

Based on a study including 5066 children of mothers with schizophrenia, researchers observed that a child exposed to maternal schizophrenia is at elevated risk of chronic health mental and physical conditions.

MENOPAUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH

The longitudinal relation of inflammation to incidence of vasomotor symptoms.

Gold EB, Xing G, Avis NE, Harlow S, Joffe H, Matthews K, Pavlovic JM, Thurston RC, Waetjen E. Menopause. 2022 Aug 1;29(8):894-904.

This study showed no significant association of the proinflammatory biomarkers, hs-CRP or IL-6, either concurrently or with subsequent vasomotor symptoms (VMS), indicating that inflammation was unlikely to be a risk factor for VMS.

Influence of Maternal Childhood Trauma on Perinatal Depression, Observed Mother-Infant Interactions, and Child Growth.

Choi KW, Denckla CA, Hoffman N, Budree S, Goddard L, Zar HJ, Stern M, Stein DJ. Matern Child Health J. 2022 Aug;26(8):1649-1656.

On average, mothers with childhood trauma histories tended to show lower rated overall interactions with their infants, which in turn was associated with reduced child growth at 1 year. When this model was adjusted for maternal age and relative socioeconomic status (SES), maternal SES strongly explained child growth such that the direct effect of mother-infant interactions was no longer significant.