Maternal Fiber Intake During Pregnancy and Development of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Across Childhood: The Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies suggest that maternal diet quality during pregnancy may influence the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. Here, we investigated associations between maternal intake of dietary fiber and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in early childhood. METHODS: We used longitudinal data of up to 21,852 mother-father-child trios (49.2% female offspring) from MoBa (the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study). The relationships between maternal fiber intake during pregnancy and offspring ADHD symptoms at ages 3, 5, and 8 years were examined using 1) multivariate regression (overall levels of ADHD symptoms), 2) latent class analysis (subclasses of ADHD symptoms by sex at each age), and 3) latent growth curves (longitudinal change in offspring ADHD symptoms). Covariates were ADHD polygenic scores in child and parents, total energy intake and energy-adjusted sugar intake, parental ages at birth of the child, and sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Higher maternal prenatal fiber intake was associated with lower offspring ADHD symptom scores at all ages (Bage3 = -0.14 [95% CI, -0.18 to -0.10]; Bage5 = -0.14 [95% CI, -0.19 to -0.09]; Bage8 = -0.14 [95% CI, -0.20 to -0.09]). Of the derived low/middle/high subclasses of ADHD symptoms, fiber was associated with lower risk of belonging to the middle subclass for boys and girls and to the high subclass for girls only (middle: odds ratioboys 0.91 [95% CI, 0.86 to 0.97]/odds ratiogirls 0.86 [95% CI, 0.81 to 0.91]; high: odds ratiogirls 0.82 [95% CI, 0.72 to 0.94]). Maternal fiber intake and rate of change in child ADHD symptoms across ages were not associated. CONCLUSIONS: Low prenatal maternal fiber intake may increase symptom levels of ADHD in offspring during childhood, independently of genetic predisposition to ADHD, unhealthy dietary exposures, and sociodemographic factors.

Associations Between Symptoms of Premenstrual Disorders and Polygenic Liability for Major Psychiatric Disorders.

Importance: Premenstrual disorders are heritable, clinically heterogenous, with a range of affective spectrum comorbidities. It is unclear whether genetic predispositions to affective spectrum disorders or other major psychiatric disorders are associated with symptoms of premenstrual disorders. Objective: To assesss whether symptoms of premenstrual disorders are associated with the genetic liability for major psychiatric disorders, as indexed by polygenic risk scores (PRSs). Design, Setting, and Participants: Women from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study were included in this genetic association study. PRSs were used to determine whether genetic liability for major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder were associated with the symptoms of premenstrual disorders, using the PRS for height as a somatic comparator. The sample was recruited across Norway between June 1999 and December 2008, and analyses were performed from July 1 to October 14, 2022. Main Outcomes and Measures: The symptoms of premenstrual disorders were assessed at recruitment at week 15 of pregnancy with self-reported severity of depression and irritability before menstruation. Logistic regression was applied to test for the association between the presence of premenstrual disorder symptoms and the PRSs for major psychiatric disorders. Results: The mean (SD) age of 56 725 women included in the study was 29.0 (4.6) years. Premenstrual disorder symptoms were present in 12 316 of 56 725 participants (21.7%). The symptoms of premenstrual disorders were associated with the PRSs for major depression (ß = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.11-0.15; P = 1.21 × 10-36), bipolar disorder (ß = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.05-0.09; P = 1.74 × 10-11), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ß = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.04-0.09; P = 1.58 × 10-9), schizophrenia (ß = 0.11; 95% CI, 0.09-0.13; P = 7.61 × 10-25), and autism spectrum disorder (ß = 0.03; 95% CI, 0.01-0.05; P = .02) but not with the PRS for height. The findings were confirmed in a subsample of women without a history of psychiatric diagnosis. Conclusions: The results of this genetic association study show that genetic liability for both affective spectrum disorder and major psychiatric disorders was associated with symptoms of premenstrual disorders, indicating that premenstrual disorders have overlapping genetic foundations with major psychiatric disorders.