U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump told Americans took a big swing last year last year when they told Americans taking the popular over-the counter pain reliever Tylenol during pregnancy was linked with autism in children. They faced backlash from doctors and autism advocates.
Now, a new study reveals a link related to medication and autism, and it isn’t Tylenol. In fact, the research team out of Hong Kong found that evidence doesn’t support a link between medication use by pregnant mothers and autism in children, but rather between mental health conditions in parents and children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
“The evidence suggests a link between either parent having a mental health condition and a slightly higher risk of ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] or autism,” said Dr. Joe Kwun-Nam Chan of the University of Hong Kong, per a press release posted on the American Association for the Advancement of Science EurekAlert feed.
Chan said this link could be explained by genetic factors and the home or social environments children are raised in. Since stress can negatively impact children’s development, Kwun-Nam Chan said that it is important that parents have access to support and treatment for any mental health conditions.
To research the impact of antidepressant, use among pregnant women on their children, the research team analyzed 37 different studies involving 648,626 antidepressant-exposed and close to 25 million unexposed pregnancies. This is referred to as a “meta-analysis” of existing research.
“This systematic review and meta-analysis indicated a small association between antidepressants and ADHD or ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder], which was attenuated or became non-significant after adjusting for confounding factors,” said the study, published in the Lancet journal.
Before those key confounding factors were accounted for, antidepressant use by the mother during pregnancy was associated with a 35% increased risk of ADHD and a 69% increased risk of autism. Use of antidepressants during pregnancy by the father was also associated with a 46% increase in the risk of ADHD and a 28% increase in the risk of autism.
Analyses restricted to mothers with mental health disorders found no association linked to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), only to amitriptyline/nortriptyline medications. Per the research team, amitriptyline/nortriptyline medications “are currently considered second or third options as treatments for depression and are often prescribed for treatment-resistant depression.”
People who are on these medications may have “more severe, chronic, or complex underlying mental health conditions than those receiving more common antidepressants, which could be influencing the association between amitriptyline/nortriptyline and increased ADHD and autism risk,” the researchers added.
Data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 11.4% of adults age 18 and older took antidepressants as of 2023. Women were more than twice as likely to take medication for depression than men at 15.3% to 7.4%. SSRIs are the type of antidepressant prescribed most often, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A letter published last year in the JAMA Network Open journal noted that “women’s lifetime risk of depression is highest during and after pregnancy, and those with a history of depression have particularly high risk of relapses during this period.” It also reported a significant decrease of antidepressant use among women during pregnancy.
“We know many parents-to-be worry about the potential impact of taking medication during pregnancy; our study provides reassuring evidence that commonly used antidepressants do not increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and ADHD in children,” said Dr. Wing-Chung Chang of the University of Hong Kong, one of the authors of the new study. “While all medications carry risks, so too does stopping antidepressants during pregnancy due to an increased risk of relapse. Therefore, for women with moderate-severe depression, doctors and patients must carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits of continuing antidepressant treatment during pregnancy against the potential harms of untreated depression.”
People are advised to consult with their doctors before taking antidepressants or ceasing use of antidepressants.
