The association of maternal polyunsaturated fatty acids during pregnancy with social competence and problem behaviours at 7 years of age: The MEFAB cohort.
BACKGROUND
The prenatal exposure to maternal n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) might influence the development of social competence and internalizing and externalizing behaviours of the child, because of the numerous functions of PUFAs within the nervous system.


METHODS
To analyse the association of selected maternal PUFAs (i.e., AA, EPA, DHA, total n-6, total n-3, and the n-6:n-3 ratio) measured during gestation with childhood social competence and problem behaviours, we examined 311 mother-child pairs from the Maastricht Essential Fatty Acid Birth (MEFAB) cohort. For each woman, PUFA-specific changes in relative concentrations were calculated by identifying the best-fitting curve of PUFA concentration by linear splines of gestational age. The associations of changes in maternal PUFAs in early and late pregnancy with childhood social competence, total problems, internalizing and externalizing behaviours, measured with the Child Behaviour Checklist 4/18 at age 7, were investigated with linear regression analyses adjusted for maternal and children's socio-demographic characteristics.


RESULTS
In late gestation (i.e., from gestational week 30), an increase in AA was associated with higher social competence, while a decrease in total n-6 was associated with lower externalizing behaviours. No other significant associations were found.


DISCUSSION
In this prospective study, increasing maternal AA and decreasing total n-6 were associated with improved social competence and externalizing behaviours, respectively, in 7-year old children. Nonetheless, the clinical significance of the identified associations is modest and further investigations are warranted to clarify the relationship between maternal AA and total n-6 during pregnancy and childhood social and behavioural development.
['Tore|E C|EC|', 'Gielen|M|M|', 'Antoniou|E E|EE|', 'de Groot|R H M|RHM|', 'Godschalk|R W L|RWL|', 'Southwood|T R|TR|', 'Smits|L|L|', 'Stratakis|N|N|', 'van de Wurff|I S M|ISM|', 'Zeegers|M P|MP|']
D000328:Adult D015992:Body Mass Index D002648:Child D015331:Cohort Studies D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated D005260:Female D006801:Humans D010743:Phospholipids D011247:Pregnancy D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects D000066553:Problem Behavior D011446:Prospective Studies D066107:Social Skills
Polyunsaturated fatty acids Social competence Problem behaviours Biomarkers Developmental origins of health and disease Prenatal programming