1.43 PRENATAL ADVERSITY AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC RISK: A TEST OF THE CUMULATIVE RISK HYPOTHESIS

Abstract

Nearly 1 in 5 youth suffer from a mental health disorder, and 50 percent of adult patients with mental illness met the diagnostic criteria for a mental health disorder as a child or adolescent. Exposure to higher levels of postnatal adversity predicts an increased risk of mental health disorders in youth. However, it is unclear whether being exposed to increasing prenatal adversity similarly affects risk. The current study examined whether levels of adverse prenatal exposures are associated with an increased risk of mental health disorders in adolescence.