Recent studies have shown that prenatal and perinatal stress cause negative impact on both the mother (fatigue, gestational hypertension, etc.) and the child (shorter gestation, low-birth-weight, slower learning, etc.). Moreover, the mother-child attachment is very important for the infant development. In fact, it has been demonstrated that a poor mother-child relationship is associated with health problems and poorer psychosocial and cognitive development of child. Although several researches focused in these two important factors for the child's development (stress and attachment), few studies took into account the father, and none of them focused on the impact of stress and attachment on cognitive and behavioural development of the one year old children whose mothers suffered from anxiety disorders and / or depression.

Through this research project, we aim to evaluate the effects of perinatal parental stress as well as maternal attachment on the cognitive and behavioural development of one year old children. The different phases of this project are studied using data collected from the North American field study on antidepressants. Ethics approval is in process with CHU Sainte-Justine, Sick Kids Hospital, and West Ontarian Hospital for children ethics committees.

Funding source
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), and Conseil du Médicament.