1 / 21

Exposure to Teratogenic Agents as a Risk Factor for Psychopathology

Exposure to Teratogenic Agents as a Risk Factor for Psychopathology. Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. General Points  Exposure might be inevitable because of pharmacological intervention e.g ., seizure, depression  Exposure can occur prior to knowledge of pregnancy

stacey-reyes
Download Presentation

Exposure to Teratogenic Agents as a Risk Factor for Psychopathology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Exposure to Teratogenic Agents as a Risk Factor for Psychopathology Child and Adolescent Psychopathology

  2. General Points •  Exposure might be inevitable because of pharmacological intervention • e.g., seizure, depression • Exposure can occur prior to knowledge of pregnancy • Behavioral teratogens can cause changes in function • e.g., cognitive, affective, sensorimotor, social

  3. (Cont’d) • Environmental risk factors can moderate teratological effects • Family placement (biological, foster, adoptive) • SES • Global intelligence

  4. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) • 3 presenting symptoms: • Pre- and postnatal growth deficiency • Dysmorphicfacial features • CNS dysfunction • incidence 1/1,000 per live births for FAS • incidence 9.1/1,000 live births for dysmorphic • and non-dysmorphic cases

  5. Symptoms • Of FASD: • Stereotypies • Sleeping problems • Tics • Hand/body rocking • Peer-relationship • difficulties • Phobias • Depression • Bipolar DO *Psychiatric symptoms in children do not dissipate with time.

  6. Disruptive behavior disorders (associated with FASD): • ADHD, ODD, CD • Attention deficits are useful markers of FASD • Exposure amount and home placement moderate the • relationship between alcohol exposure and delinquency • biological and foster homes • =>  in delinquency • adoptive homes • => in delinquency *Possible mediational model: FASD  attentional/impulse control problems  conduct problems

  7. Mood Disorders(associated with FASD): Mediational model #1 (O’Conner, 2001): FASD negative infant affect depressive features at age 6 Mediational model #2 (O’Conner & Paley, 2006): FASD quality of mother-child interaction depression

  8. Mood Disorders (associated with FASD): (Cont’d) Moderational model(O’Conner & Kasari, 2000): FASD + gender + maternal depression + (FASD × gender) + (FASD × maternal depression) depression • Girls  depression • 2) Maternal depression  • depression

  9. Social skills deficits (after controlling for IQ) • Many potential pathways suggest equifinality: • Factors that affect pathway selection:  Timing (pregnancy stage, dosage, pattern of exposure, maternal characteristics, fetal genetic factors) • Pattern of infant withdrawal • (not discussed in book)

  10. Nicotine Exposure • Conduct problems (controlling for genetic factors • and parental antisocial behavior) • Antisocial behaviors • ADHD (controlling for SES, parental IQ, parental ADHD) • Moderational model: • DA transporter gene (DTG) + exposure + (DTG × exposure) ADHD/ODD • Higher rates of substance abuse and depression

  11. Stimulant drugs • Increased aggression in cocaine-exposed children • Gender and comorbid alcohol exposure moderate their relation • Other risk factors more predictive of psychopathology than cocaine exposure: • caregiver’s recent drug use • caregiver’s level of mental functioning • caregiver’s depressive symptoms • Many potential pathways suggest equifinality: • Factors that affect pathway selection -- gender and gestational age • Disrupted balance between dopaminergically mediated and noradrenergically mediated arousal-regulating systems hyperarousal

  12. Methylmercury and Lead • Neurobehavioral deficits • Prenatal and postnatal exposure (true for all drug exposure) • Delinquency and antisocial behavior (controlling for birth weight, parental IQ, quality of home environment, SES)

  13. Clinical Implications • Take careful prenatal exposure histories • Different response pattern to treatments • Stable, nurturing home buffers effects of alcohol • exposure

  14. Brain Injury as a Risk Factor for Psychopathology Symptoms of closed head injuries: • Cognitive: • confusion, poor concentration, inability to follow directions or answer questions, amnesia, loss of consciousness • Medical: • headaches, nausea, vomiting • Sensory: • dizziness, poor coordination or loss of balance, alterations in vision or hearing (seeing stars, ringing ears • Psychological: • irritability, changes in personality, emotions inappropriate for context

  15. Assessment of closed head injuries • Past: • Sideline assessments of concussive symptoms • Present : • Comparison with baseline administration of standardized neuropsychological tests

  16. 1) Nontraumaticbrain injuries Causes: Susceptibility Low birth weight Prematurity Prenatal teratologicalexposure Exposure to maternal cortisol Restricted blood flow through umbilical artery Nutritional differences Insufficient oxygen supply • Males • ADHD (and greater severity) • Low SES • Poor parental supervision • (ADHD—> poor supervision—> brain injury • injury) Equifinality and multifinality of outcomes *Archives of Disease in Childhood, 2001

  17. 2) Traumatic brain injury (TBI) • Focal--translational force applied along brain’s linear axis • Diffuse--rotational forces applied in angular movement around brain’s center of gravity a. Small hemorrhages on overall surface of the brain b. Coup/contrecoup-rebound effect on opposite side a. Head strikes against broad object, diffusing force across the surface of the skull b. Shearing strain on brain, tearing axonal tissue c. Most common form of head injury, producing concussions

  18. Head injuries are classified as mild, moderate, or severe using Glasgow Coma Scale • Mild injuries accumulated over time can be dangerous • Secondary injuries: a. Edema--swelling b. global tissue damage

  19. Hypoxia--reduction in oxygen supply • Toxic accumulation of calcium in cells • Apoptosis--programming death of neighboring cells • Accumulation of cell loss over weeks produces behavioral • deficits • Common complication of preterm infants • Factors related to hypoxia: developmental maturation of • neural tissue, duration and degree of hypoxic exposure, degree of neuroprotective factors • Sequence following hypoxia: cognition/behavior impairments, motor incoordination • Ischemia (reduced blood supply to cell) potentiates hypoxia effects • ADHD risk even in absence of marked neurological dysfunction

  20. Role of genes in brain injury E4 allele confers vulnerability for development of Alzheimer’s and TBI for adults but protection for children Mediational model of schizophrenia: Genetic heightened sensitivity to hypoxic event  hypoxia schizophrenia 3) ADHD and schizophrenia: vulnerability of dopaminergic system to hypoxic insult 4) Female brains less vulnerable to ischemia/ hypoxia-induced damage 5) Moderating variables: exacerbation of preexisting pathology, reaction of child/family to loss of function, PTSD formation 6) High family functioning protects against the effects of brain injury (moderational model) 7) Ritalin less effective for hypoxia/TBI-induced ADHD

  21. Fin

More Related