The Long-Term Effects of Breastfeeding on Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A Pregnancy Cohort Study Followed for 14 Years
Received 8 April 2009; received in revised form 10 September 2009; accepted 16 October 2009. published online 14 December 2009.
Objectives
To determine whether there was an independent effect of breastfeeding on child and adolescent mental health.
Study design
The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study recruited 2900 pregnant women and followed the live births for 14 years. Mental health status was assessed by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) at 2, 6, 8, 10, and 14 years. Maternal pregnancy, postnatal, and infant factors were tested in multivariable random effects models and generalized estimating equations to examine the effects of breastfeeding duration on mental health morbidity.
Results
Breastfeeding for less than 6 months compared with 6 months or longer was an independent predictor of mental health problems through childhood and into adolescence. This relationship was supported by the random effects models (increase in total CBCL score: 1.45; 95% confidence interval 0.59, 2.30) and generalized estimating equation models (odds ratio for CBCL morbidity: 1.33; 95% confidence interval 1.09, 1.62) showing increased behavioral problems with shorter breastfeeding duration.
Conclusion
A shorter duration of breastfeeding may be a predictor of adverse mental health outcomes throughout the developmental trajectory of childhood and early adolescence.
aTelethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
bFaculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
cThe University of Western Australia, the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
dCentre for International Health & School of Public Health, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
eCentre for Developmental Health, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
Reprint requests: W.H. Oddy, PhD, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA, 6872, Australia.
The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study is funded by the Raine Medical Research Foundation at The University of Western Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC), the Telstra Foundation, the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation, and the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund. We would also like to acknowledge the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the NHMRC Program Grant which supported the 14-year follow-up (Stanley et al, ID 003209). The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
ABSTRACT