Adverse prenatal exposures (APEs) are known to co-occur and are individually associated with increased risk of childhood psychopathology; however, their cumulative impact on long-term mental health and brain development remains unclear. To address this gap, a study examined longitudinal associations between cumulative APE burden, risk for psychopathology, and age-related cortical thinning in adolescents, involving 8,515 singleton children with a mean age of 9.9 years.
The study showed that exposure to multiple adverse prenatal exposures (APEs) was associated with a dose-dependent increase in clinically significant psychopathology, with higher odds observed for exposure to 1 APE (odds ratio (OR), 2.01), 2 APEs (OR, 3.82), and 3 or more APEs (OR, 6.75). Associations with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms weakened over time, whereas associations with depressive symptoms…
