Rosa Alati

• The University of Queensland

Background Studies have reported conflicting findings on the association between maternal pre- and perinatal depression and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring. AimsTo examine and consolidate the existing evidence on the association between maternal pre- and perinatal depression and the risk of ASD in children and adolescents. Method In thi...

Aims To establish the increased all-cause mortality risk after an inpatient episode of care with a diagnosis of a severe psychiatric disorder in young people. Methods The data included all psychiatric inpatient episodes for psychiatric diagnoses in Western Australia between 2005 and 2022 linked with the state death registry. Participants were only...

Background There is limited research on the association between maternal depression and autism spectrum disorder, and existing studies face significant limitations, including inadequate control for confounders, reliance on self-reported data, small sample sizes and lack of investigation into mediating factors. This study addresses these gaps by exa...

Mixed results have been reported regarding the link between different types of maternal diabetes and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring. Hence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore these associations. Relevant studies on the subject were retrieved from six major databases, including PubMed, Medline...

Background Exposure to maternal mental illness during foetal development may lead to altered development, resulting in permanent changes in offspring functioning. Aims To assess whether there is an association between prenatal maternal psychiatric disorders and offspring behavioural problems in early childhood, using linked health administrative d...

Background Evidence indicates that criminal behaviour in youth is linked with a range of negative physical, mental, and social health consequences. Despite a global decrease over the last 30 years, youth crime remains prevalent. Identifying and mapping the most robust risk and protective factors, and intervention strategies for youth crime could of...

Aims To identify a subgroup of mothers at high risk of preterm delivery, defined by empirical classes of multimorbidity and recurrence across three consecutive births. Methods The data were extracted from the perinatal data collection (PDC) of all inpatient live births ( n = 435 912) occurring in the Australian state of Queensland between January...

A cross-sectoral partnership was formed in 2021 in support of the recommendations in an audit on access to state-funded mental health services. In this first paper, we aimed to describe the demographic and service utilisation of adults with a mental health diagnosis in the Western Australian state-funded health system from 2005 to 2021. Inpatient,...

This study aimed to investigate the association between pre-pregnancy, prenatal and perinatal exposures to cannabis use disorder (CUD) and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring. Data were drawn from the New South Wales (NSW) Perinatal Data Collection (PDC), population-based, linked administrative health data encompassing all-live...

Objective: To examine the association between prenatal cannabis use and structural birth defects in exposed offspring. Methods: In line with the preregistered protocol (PROSPERO: CRD42022368623), we systematically searched PubMed/Medline, CINHAL, EMBASE, Web of Science, ProQuest, Psych-Info, and Google Scholar for published articles until 25 Janua...

Background Research exploring the relationship between prenatal infection and child behavioural outcomes would benefit from further studies utilising full‐population samples with the scale to investigate specific infections and to employ robust designs. We tested the association among several common infections requiring inpatient admission during a...

Background: It is important to explore factors that may hinder early childhood development in AEDC Emotional Maturity and Social Competence domains as these underpin the foundation for health, well-being, and productivity over the life course. No previous study has examined whether, or to what extent, preeclampsia increases the risk of developmenta...

Reported associations of pre-pregnancy weight and/or gestational weight gain with offspring behavioural outcomes are inconsistent. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study aimed to examine these associations at five developmental stages between the ages of 3 and 16. Over 6800 mother–offspring pairs at...

Abstract Background: It is plausible that exposure to cannabis in-utero could be associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)] during childhood and adolescence; however, mixed results have been reported. This study investigated whether there i...

Importance: Existing epidemiological evidence is equivocal as to whether paternal depression poses a consequent risk of depression in offspring; meta-analysis of findings can help inform preventative intervention efforts. Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies examining the association between patern...

Autism is a lifelong condition for which intervention must occur as early as possible to improve social functioning. Thus, there is great interest in improving our ability to diagnose autism as early as possible. We take a novel approach to this challenge by combining machine learning with maternal and infant health administrative data to construct...

Background: The risk associated with parental perinatal depressive symptoms and the continuum of emotional and behavioural problems in offspring is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal and paternal perinatal depressive symptoms and behavioural problem trajectories in offspring aged 3-16 years. Methods: We use...

Background: Privacy, access and security concerns can hinder the availability of health data for research. The use of synthesised data in place of de-identified electronic health records (EHRs) presents an opportunity to conduct research while minimising privacy concerns. Objectives: To examine whether synthesised data can replicate two prenatal...

Background: Early childhood developmental vulnerability has been closely related to the predictors of relatively good health, social and educational outcomes later in adulthood. However, the impacts of prenatal tobacco exposure on childhood developmental vulnerability have been rarely examined. Further, a few of the studies that have investigated m...

Background This is the first study to investigate the longitudinal association between prenatal and perinatal psychiatric hospitalizations and the risk of lower academic achievements in adolescent offspring. Methods We conducted an administrative health data-based cohort study of 168, 528 mother-offspring pairs using linked data obtained from heal...

Background and aims Mixed results have been reported on the association between prenatal cannabis exposure and preterm birth. This study aimed to examine the magnitude and consistency of associations reported between prenatal cannabis exposure and preterm birth. Methods This review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review...

Purpose Existing evidence on the relationship between mode of delivery and offspring emotional and behavioural problems, especially in older age groups, is limited and inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the association between obstetric mode of delivery and emotional and behavioural problems in offspring aged 3–16 years. Methods The sample...

Introduction Evidence from epidemiological studies indicated that intrauterine exposure to alcohol and tobacco is linked with a number of adverse outcomes in offspring. However, few studies have linked prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposures to offspring depressive symptoms with mixed results. Objectives The objective of this study was to examine th...

Background: Evidence shows that depressive symptoms during pregnancy increase the risk of an intervention during delivery (induction, the use of forceps or vacuum, and caesarean sections (CS)). Many women with depression during pregnancy are not identified and therefore will not receive appropriate follow up of their symptoms. We hypothesised that...

The study aimed to investigate the association between interpregnancy interval (IPI) and parent-reported oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in offspring at 7 and 10 years of age. We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), an ongoing population-based longitudinal study based in Bristol, United Kingdom (UK). Data...

Background Perinatal depression is often underdiagnosed; consequently, many women suffer perinatal depression without follow-up care. Screening for depressive symptoms during the perinatal period has been recommended in Australia to increase detection and follow-up of women suffering from depressive symptoms. Screening rates have gradually increase...

Background: People who experience incarceration are at increased risk of asthma and have a higher prevalence of risk factors associated with asthma-related mortality. However, there has been little research on the relationship between asthma and mortality in people released from prison. Objectives: This study examined the association between ast...

Background : Epidemiological studies have linked prenatal tobacco and alcohol exposures to internalizing behaviours in children and adolescents with inconsistent findings. Dearth of epidemiological studies have investigated the associations with the risk of experiencing symptoms of anxiety in young adulthood. Methods : Study participants (N=1190)...

Background Prenatal alcohol exposure has been found to be associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes in postnatal life, but the evidence is equivocal as to whether such exposure increases the risk of subsequent alcohol use in the offspring. We systematically reviewed the literature on the association between prenatal alcohol exposu...

Background There is a paucity of prospective longitudinal studies examining the associations between maternal use of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy and the risk of cannabis use in offspring. The aim of this study was to examine the association between prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposures and offspring cannabis use. Methods Data were from t...

Introduction There is evidence that maternal perinatal depression is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes in children. No study has yet examined the association between maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period and the risk of oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) in children and adolesce...

Introduction Previous research has suggested that offspring of parents with mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, are at an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders. Few studies have investigated this relationship in young adults. Objectives To investigate the risk of anxiety symptoms in young adult offspring of parents w...

Background There is some compelling, though not comprehensive, epidemiological evidence which suggests an association between prenatal tobacco exposure and tobacco smoking/dependence in offspring. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the magnitude and consistency of associations reported between prenatal tobacco exposure a...

Background: Existing evidence regarding the association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and the risk of maternal mental illness is inconclusive. This study sought to investigate (a) whether HDP (pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension) are independently associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and in the...

Importance An association between perinatal maternal depression and risk of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in offspring has not been established. Identifying early determinants of ODD can help inform preventative intervention efforts. Objective To investigate the association between maternal perinatal depressive symptoms and the risk of ODD i...

Introduction While there exist some studies that explored the association between maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in early and late childhood, studies exploring the risk in late adolescence are however lacking. Objectives This is the first study that aimed to investigate the...

Objective Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in pregnant women. This is the first longitudinal study investigating the association between gestational UTIs and the risk of maternal antenatal and postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms. Methods Data were utilised from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pare...

Background Previous studies have suggested associations between maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) and a range of adverse outcomes in offspring. However, evidence reporting adverse effects on poor academic performance in adolescence is scant. Methods This register-based cohort study used linked data obtained from New South Wales (NSW) educat...

Background Emerging epidemiological evidence suggests that offspring born to mothers who smoked tobacco during pregnancy may have elevated risk of developing conduct disorder (CD) symptoms. We examined associations between maternal and paternal tobacco smoking during pregnancy and CD symptoms in offspring at the age of 14 years. Methods We obtained...

Objectives: There is limited evidence on the impact of parental mental health problems on offspring’s educational outcomes. We investigated the impact of maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as paternal emotional problems on the educational outcomes of their adolescent and young adult offspring. Methods: We used data from a longitudin...

Background and Aims Cannabis use is increasing among women of reproductive age, warranting a greater understanding of the impact of prenatal cannabis use on offspring developmental outcomes. We tested for a potential relationship between prenatal cannabis use disorders (CUD) and offspring educational outcomes across primary and secondary school. D...

This commentary is on the original article by Chen et al. on pages 1107–1113 of this issue.

Background Epidemiological data indicate that paternal and maternal mental health difficulties are predictors of conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in offspring. We tested the association between maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms and paternal emotional problems with CD and ODD symptoms in adolescent offspring aged...

Background: While previous studies have suggested that maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in their offspring in early and late childhood, studies exploring the risk in late adolescence are however lacking. This study aims to examine the association between...

Epidemiological studies indicate that children of parents with mental health problems are at an increased risk of developing anxiety disorders. Few studies have investigated this relationship in young adults. Participants were from the Raine Study, which is a multi-generational birth cohort study in Australia. Maternal anxiety and depression in lat...

Introduction This study aims to explore association between maternal depressive symptoms and infant feeding practice at hospital discharge. Methods Data were obtained from a birth cohort study based in Australia that linked to health administrative records. Maternal demographic data, mental health status derived from the Edinburgh Postnatal Depres...

Objectives We assessed the impact of caesarean delivery on offspring respiratory and intestinal infection. Methods Data were extracted from all live births (n = 429,058) occurring in the Australian state of Queensland between January 2009 and December 2015, and followed for 12 months. Births were categorised as either non-medically indicated caesa...

Background Several studies have investigated the association between parental severe psychiatric disorders and anxiety disorder risk in offspring, but the findings across these studies have been inconsistent. Methods Using the PRISMA guideline, a rigorous electronic and manual search was conducted in four electronic databases EMBASE, PubMed, Psych...

BACKGROUND: There are limited studies on the risk of depressive symptoms in adolescent offspring exposed to parental mental health problems in middle childhood. AIM: We investigated the association between parental mental health problems, particularly paternal emotional problems and maternal symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the risk of depre...

Background Mounting epidemiological evidence suggests an association between prenatal tobacco exposure and an increased risk of tobacco smoking in offspring. However, it is uncertain whether the association is due to the intrauterine or shared environmental exposures. Methods Study participants were from the Raine Study, a prospective birth cohor...

Inconsistent results of the association between severe psychiatric disorders (SPD) in parents and the risk of disruptive behavioral disorders (DBD) including conduct disorders (CD) and oppositional defiant disorders (ODD) in the offspring have been found by previous epidemiologic studies. PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for relev...

Background Studies have reported conflicting results on the association between maternal pre-pregnancy weight and adverse mental health outcomes during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to provide the current state of evidence concerning the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and the risk...

Antenatal depression is the strongest predictor for postpartum depression including psychiatric admission. Universal screening for depressive symptoms during pregnancy may increase the detection of clinical depression and reduce consequent morbidity. We therefore hypothesised that antenatal screening for depressive symptoms could reduce the risk of...

Background: Prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposures have been associated with adverse mental health consequences in offspring. The objective of this study was to test the associations between maternal prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposures and depressive symptoms in the offspring, adjusting for a wide range of potential confounders. Methods: We used...

Purpose It is plausible that offspring born to mothers using tobacco during pregnancy may have increased risk of mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorders); however, mixed results have been reported. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the magnitude and consistency of associations reported between prenatal tobac...

Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests offspring exposed to prenatal alcohol are at increased risk of alcohol use disorders in adulthood. The evidence on the risk of developing harmful alcohol use in adolescence is less clear. Methods: We used data from the Raine Study, a multi-generational birth cohort study, to examine the association betw...

Objectives A major challenge for hospitals and clinicians is the early identification of neonates at risk of developing adverse conditions. We develop a model based on routinely collected administrative data, which accurately predicts two common disorders among early term and preterm (<39 weeks) neonates prior to discharge. Study design The data in...

Objective Conflicting results have been reported on the associations between inappropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) and the risk of depression during pregnancy. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between weight gain during pregnancy and the risk of antenatal depressive symptoms. Methods A systematic...

There is evidence that offspring of mothers who have hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes. This study aims to examine the association between maternal HDP and emotional- and behavioural problems in offspring at age 11 years as reported by teachers and parents. The current study is based on the A...

Background Prescription opioids are a central aspect of pain management and as the prevalence of pain is increasing so is the rate of use of prescription opioids. Increased opioid prescriptions increases the risk of deaths and morbidity. Objective To (a) describe the 22-year trend of prescription opioid dispensing in Queensland, (b) examine the eff...

Purpose: This study examined the effect of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (HDP) on trajectories of emotional and behavioural problems in offspring. Methods: We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a prospective birth cohort study in Avon, United Kingdom. A group-based trajectory modelling was used...

Aims: Understanding contexts in which social harms from drinking occur can help develop context-based harm reduction efforts. However, there is little knowledge of specific drinking contexts where such harms occur and whether these are gender or age specific. We aimed to investigate associations of a range of drinking contexts and social harms fro...

Repeated pregnancy leaves young mothers nutritionally deprived which may in turn lead to poor infant growth. We measure the occurrence and persistence of stunting among offspring of young mothers who experienced repeated pregnancies using data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. We selected mothers aged 14–24 years (n = 1,033) w...

Background Despite the growing interest in investigating social harms from drinking, little is known about drinkers’ reports of these harms and their gender differences among Australian young adults at age 30. We aimed to examine gender differences of social harms from drinking as reported by drinkers. Methods 2,200 young adults at age 30 with com...

Background Antenatal depression has been associated with poor perinatal outcomes such as preterm birth and low birth weight. Universal screening of perinatal depression has been recommended to improve maternal and pregnancy outcomes. Hypothesis and aim We hypothesise that screening for antenatal depressive symptoms may reduce the risk of preterm b...

Aims The accurate identification of mothers at risk of postpartum psychiatric admission would allow for preventive intervention or more timely admission. We developed a prediction model to identify women at risk of postpartum psychiatric admission. Methods Data included administrative health data of all inpatient live births in the Australian stat...

Background There is an association between the duration of prescription opioids use and an increased risk of serious harm, often unintentional. Objective (1) Describe the trends in duration of prescription opioids dispensing and, (2) determine the risk of long-term use (≥4 months) based on patients’ socioeconomic status, daily dose in oral daily mo...

Maternal thyroid hormone may have impact on fetal brain development and consequently lead to offspring mental health problems. This study examined the role of maternal prenatal thyroid function on trajectories of offspring emotional and behavioural problems. Data were taken from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. A total of 4839 m...

Background Existing methods of measuring birth size asymmetry based on ratios of growth parameters are clinically useful but simplistic, and as such may have limited usefulness in studies of aetiology. Objectives We aimed to develop a novel method of measuring asymmetric fetal growth at birth and demonstrate its utility in characterising the pertu...

Background Accessing multiple prescribers for opioid prescription, referred to as doctor-shopping, is associated with an increased risk of opioid overdose and fatalities. Aim The primary aim of this study was to assess the probability of accessing multiple prescribers among patients dispensed prescription opioids. Method A retrospective populatio...

Aims: People who inject drugs frequently experience discrimination. However, little is known about how discrimination experienced in different social domains is linked to health and wellbeing. Design: We used data collected in 2016 from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS), an Australian survey of people who inject drugs. We used a modified...

Objective: To quantify the changes in sleep duration over two generations of young adults. Methods: We used data from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy cohort to compare sleep duration in mother and offspring. The analyses were restricted to 1,731 mothers who were young adults (mean age 21.96 years; SD±1.90) at the baseline m...

Aim Despite the extensive health promotion interventions to improve contraceptive uptake among sexually active adolescents, well-informed adolescents may still undertake poor contraceptive choices due to poor mental health. This study primarily sought to examine the effect of depression in adolescence on future use of modern contraception in young...

Aims: Understanding the social contexts in which problematic drinking occurs can inform prevention strategies. In this article, we investigate gender-specific social contexts associated with problematic drinking and depression among adults aged 30 years. Because depression has been consistently linked with harmful alcohol consumption, we will also...

Purpose To evaluate the available evidence on the association between low-to-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and the development of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in the offspring. Methods We systematically reviewed and meta-analysed studies reporting an association between low and/or moderate PAE and offspring A...

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) may increase the risk of offspring depression in childhood. Low birth weight is also associated with increased risk of mental health problems, including depression. This study sought to investigate (a) whether there is an association between HDP and the risk of depression in childhood and (b) whether low bi...

Objective Knowledge of the factors which influence repeat pregnancy can inform much needed evidence-based prevention programs. This study aims to identify correlates of repeat pregnancy in the Philippines. Methods We used data from five Philippine Demographic and Health Surveys (1993–2013). A total of 4757 women 15–24 years old who had experienced...