FETAL ORIGIN OF ADULT DISEASE? A POPULATION-BASED STUDY OF THE OFFSPRING OF WOMEN WITH SEVERE MENTAL DISORDERS

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/303235

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

Fetal origin of adult disease is a currently influential paradigm in epidemiological research into common diseases (ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, diabetes) and behaviour problems (suicide, criminal offending). It postulates an early pathophysiological programming of outcomes that become manifest in adult life. In the proposed research we aim to examine key aspects of this model by conducting a population-based study on the developmental outcomes, antecedent and concomitant risk factors, and a spectrum of neuropsychiatric morbidity in all children (N-5150) born in Western Australia in 1980-2001 to women diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder or unipolar depression, as compared to children (N-504,553) born to women without a diagnosed psychiatric illness. The study will be based on record linkage, utilising the unique resource of multiple, comprehensive population databases in Western Australia. Specifically, this research will identify the range of developmental outcomes and morbidity in four consecutive birth cohorts (1980-84; 1985-89; 1990-94; and 1995-2001) of children at high genetic and environmental risk and examine their relationship to specific risk factors, including familial genetic load, obstetric complications, severity of maternal illness, and psychosocial adversity. The study will be the first of its kind and its findings will inform aetiological research into the major mental disorders, as well as clinical and public health practice. It will provide novel data on fundamental issues, such as the interaction between genetic risk and environmental factors in the causation of schizophrenia, as well as on the extent to which the risk of developing severe mental illness is immutably embedded in its fetal origin, or is modifiable by subsequent mitigating factors and appropriate intervention.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2004

End Date: 01-01-2006

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $442,875.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Psychiatry (incl. Psychotherapy)

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Bipolar disorder | Brain disorders originating during pregnancy | Childhood risk and antecedent factors | Developmental outcomes | Intellectual disability during infancy and childhood | Maternal mental health | Medical record linkage | Pregnancy | Psychiatric disorders | Schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders

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