Maternal stress during pregnancy is a known risk factor for mental disorders in children. This project aims to shed the light on unexplored aspects of the association between maternal stress during pregnancy and children's mental health and to identify factors counteracting its detrimental impact. The project will study whether there are periods of fetal vulnerability to maternal stress during pregnancy or its effects accumulate over gestation, identify biomarkers predicting the highest risk of mental disorders already during prenatal period for targeted prevention, and identify factors contributing to building resilience to maternal stress. This study will use nationwide register data, biological samples and questionnaires from the three prospective birth cohort studies comprising nearly 16000 mother-child dyads followed up to the offspring's age of 16 years. This project will aid in developing mental health promoting programs and targeted prevention and interventions.

2023

2027