A preliminary investigation of prenatal stress and risk of autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

This paper was a retrospective survey investigating the association between prenatal stress and risk of ASD in Chinese population. Twenty-eight mothers of children diagnosed with ASD, and thirty-eight mothers of children with no diagnoses of neurodevelopmental diseases were interviewed. The survey mainly investigated the incidence and intensity of prenatal stress, birth conditions and developmental problems of children, maternal health conditions, and the participants’ coping strategies towards prenatal stress. Higher overall intensity and higher incidence of prenatal stress were found to be experienced by mothers of ASD children. The ASD group also showed higher incidence of prematurity, birth complications, health problems, maternal illnesses, advanced maternal age, and developmental problems. This proposed prenatal stress as a possible risk factor of ASD and the other developmental problems associated with ASD.