Dados do Trabalho

Título

LIFETIME PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN OFFSPRING OF PARENTS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Introdução

Anxiety disorders (AD) are conditions associated with a significant economic burden owing to decreased work productivity and increased use of health care services. Being affected by any mental illness increases the risk of complications in the offspring. The offspring of anxiety parents are at high risk for different types of psychopathology, including AD. However, little is known about how parental anxiety during pregnancy and/or post-natal period might result in alterations in behavior or neurodevelopment changes in their offspring.

Objetivo

To verify Anxiety Disorders prodromes, in order to evaluate early treatments and prevention steps, as well as to elucidate risk and protective factors.

Método

A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, where a systematical search through the Web of Science, Medline/Pubmed, and PsycoInfo databases. The review included original longitudinal researches, in which parental anxiety symptoms were investigated in association with offspring behavior, neurological and psychopathological outcomes. Forty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review.

Resultados

Maternal anxiety during pre-natal phase is related with negative temperament, increased attention to fearful vocalisations, excessive crying, decrease in alertness, impaired psychomotor and cognitive development in early and middle childhood, while is associated with dysregulation of the cortisol axis during adolescence. Anxiety disorders during post-natal presented greater negative temperament, internalizing symptoms, and anxiety symptoms in early, middle childhood, and adolescence.

Conclusão

According to the conducted systematic review, anxious symptoms during the prenatal and postnatal period impacts offspring providing alterations in their neurodevelopment and behavior.

Palavras-chave

anxiety, intergenerational, offspring