Maternal Hyperglycemia in Pregnancy and Offspring Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors

Objective: To examine the associations between exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and maternal glycemic markers during pregnancy and offspring behaviors at 3 and 5 years. We hypothesized that exposure to maternal hyperglycemia would be associated with more behavioral problems in offspring.

Methods: We included 548 mother-child pairs from the prospective pre-birth Gen3G cohort (Canada). Glycemic markers were measured during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in the second trimester of pregnancy. Based on OGTT, we classified 59 women (10.8%) as having GDM according to international diagnostic criteria. Mothers reported offspring behavior using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at 3 and 5 years, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at 5 years. We used linear mixed models and multivariate regression to assess the associations between GDM or glycemic markers and children's behavior, adjusted for child sex and age, and maternal demographic factors, body mass index and family history of diabetes.

Results: Exposure to GDM was associated with higher SDQ externalizing scores at 3 and 5 years [B = 1.12, 95% CI (0.14, 2.10)] in fully adjusted linear mixed models. These results were supported by the CBCL at 5 years. Higher levels of maternal glucose at 1 h and 2 h during OGTT were associated with greater SDQ externalizing scores. Fasting glucose levels were not associated with child behavior scores. We did not observe associations between glycemic markers and internalizing behaviors.

Conclusions: Exposure to higher levels of maternal glycemia during pregnancy was associated with more externalizing behaviors in children at 3 and 5 years.