Association between maternal pregnancy complications and long-term depressive and anxiety disorders: evidence from the UK millennium cohort study

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dc.contributor.authorBodunde, E.O.
dc.contributor.authorMccarthy, F.P.
dc.contributor.authorO'Connor, Karen M.
dc.contributor.authorMatvienko-Sikar, K.
dc.contributor.authorKhashan, A.S.
dc.contributor.funderIrish Research eLibrary, IReL
dc.contributor.funderHealth Research Board, HRB, SPHeRE-2018-1
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-12T14:50:02Z
dc.date.available2026-05-12T14:50:02Z
dc.date.issued2026-04-29
dc.description.abstractPurpose: Limited evidence exists on the association between maternal pregnancy complications and depressive and/or anxiety disorders in the longer term. We examined the association between pregnancy complications and later depressive and anxiety disorders. Methods: The study cohort consisted of mothers who participated in the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Pregnancy complications were self-reported at 9 months postpartum and categorised into 0, 1, 2, and 3 + complications. Follow-up surveys, including questions about clinically diagnosed depressive, and anxiety disorders were carried out at 3, 5,7,11, and 14 years postpartum. The primary outcome is the diagnosis of depressive and anxiety disorders, in the mother up to 14 years postpartum. We applied multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for several potential confounders. Results: 10,510 mothers were included in the analyses, with n = 3935 (37%) of mothers experiencing at least one pregnancy complication. The fully adjusted odd ratios (aOR) were, [aOR, 1.54 (95% CI, 1.40–1.70)], [aOR, 1.70 (95% CI, 1.46–1.99)], [aOR, 2.11 (95% CI, 1.65–2.69)] for 1, 2, and 3 + pregnancy complications respectively. Bleeding in later pregnancy [OR, 1.33 (95% CI,1.08–1.65)], preeclampsia [OR, 1.43 (95% CI, 1.22–1.67)], threatened miscarriage [OR, 1.38 (95% CI, 1.16–1.64)], were associated with later depressive and anxiety disorders. No association was observed for gestational diabetes mellitus [OR, 1.01 (95% CI, 0.74–1.37)]. Conclusion: An increasing number of pregnancy complications was associated with higher odds of depressive and anxiety disorders up to 14 years postpartum. Efforts to minimise and manage multiple pregnancy complications may benefit women’s long-term mental health. © The Author(s) 2026.en
dc.description.sponsorshipOpen Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium. This research is funded by the Health Research Board under SPHeRE-2018-1. The Health Research Board (HRB) supports excellent research that improves people’s health, health care, and health service delivery.
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent12
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.authororcidBodunde, E.O.
dc.identifier.authororcidMccarthy, F.P.§0000-0001-5062-6851
dc.identifier.authororcidO'Connor, Karen M.
dc.identifier.authororcidMatvienko-Sikar, K.§0000-0003-2777-6581
dc.identifier.authororcidKhashan, A.S.
dc.identifier.citationBodunde, E O, Mccarthy, F P, O'Connor, K M, Matvienko-Sikar, K & Khashan, A S 2026, 'Association between maternal pregnancy complications and long-term depressive and anxiety disorders: evidence from the UK millennium cohort study', Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol., vol. 61, no. 8, pp. 1463-1474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-026-03094-4
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s00127-026-03094-4
dc.identifier.endpage1474
dc.identifier.issn0933-7954
dc.identifier.issued8
dc.identifier.journaltitleSoc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol.
dc.identifier.otherRIS: urn:A4F1DA61F0E91210CBDEA2A43600F5A2
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-2777-6581/work/214469566
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-5062-6851/work/214469706
dc.identifier.startpage1463
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18750
dc.identifier.volume61
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037543822
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037543822?origin=resultslist
dc.rights© 2026, the Authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.o rg/licenses/by/4.0/.
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectAnxiety
dc.subjectDepression
dc.subjectMaternal health
dc.subjectPregnancy
dc.subject[INFANT]
dc.subject[Medicine]
dc.subject[PublicHealth]
dc.titleAssociation between maternal pregnancy complications and long-term depressive and anxiety disorders: evidence from the UK millennium cohort studyen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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