Meta-analysis: No link between prenatal antidepressants and autism, ADHD

A large-scale meta-analysis published in The Lancet Psychiatry has found no strong evidence that common antidepressants taken during pregnancy cause neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

Researchers led by Dr. Wing-Chung Chang of the University of Hong Kong analyzed data from 37 prior studies, covering 648,626 pregnancies exposed to antidepressants and nearly 25 million unexposed ones. The average maternal age across studies was about 29 years. In unadjusted analyses, maternal use during pregnancy showed a 35 percent higher risk of ADHD and a 69 percent higher risk of autism in offspring. Paternal use during the mother's pregnancy was linked to a 46 percent higher ADHD risk and 28 percent higher autism risk.

Those associations largely disappeared after researchers adjusted for confounding factors, including maternal mental health conditions, family history, genetics and other familial influences. "This pattern strongly suggests that the higher rates of ADHD and autism seen in previously exposed groups are largely driven by the underlying vulnerability of these mothers and families," Chang said.