Summary

To date several studies suggests that adult disorders can be traced back to early life stress, often referred to as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Both animal and human studies have found exposure to prenatal stress to be associated with later adult disorders. Thus, investigating early risk pathways is crucial for prevention, as health-economic calculations show that initiatives introduced early in life have a greater impact on mental health, and are much cheaper, than measures that are implemented later. In this project we aim to examine DNAm as a potential biological pathway linking early life stress through to childhood and later adolescence, and to gain new knowledge on the role of DNA methylation (DNAm) in the risk of childhood psychopathology.

This sample is part of the Norwegian Mother, Father Child Cohort Study (MoBa). MoBa has been carried out by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and is a cohort consisting of 114 000 pregnancies recruited from 1999 to 2009. In addition, to follow-up data, we will examine psychopathology in siblings age 3 to 8 years. We collaborate with The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo Sequencing Centre, King’s College London, Manchester University and Carleton University, Canada. The Project is supported by NFR grant:301004 and Promenta research centre Grant: 288083.