Association between prenatal exposure to the Haiti 2010 earthquake, consequent maternal PTSD and autistic symptoms in offspring

Objective. - The present work reports findings from a study that examined the association between pregnant women's exposure to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) symptoms/behaviors in their offspring at age three. Method. - A sample of 364 mother-offspring dyads who survived the 2010 earthquake in Haiti (mean (SD) age = 27.31 (5.93)) participated in the study. Maternal data were elicited via the Earthquake Experience Questionnaire (EEQ), the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI), and the PTSD Checklist Specific (PCL-S). Child-related data were obtained from maternal completion of the Echelle d'Evaluation des Comportements Autistiques Revisee (ECAR) (Autistic Behaviors Scale Revised) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Results. - Peritraumatic distress was significantly associated with maternal PTSD symptoms (r = .64, p = 0.01). Moreover, when maternal PTSD symptoms were added to final models of predictors for offspring autistic behaviors and pervasive developmental disorder, the amount of variance explained increased respectively from 14 to 21% and 15 to 23%. Conclusions. - Exposure to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti during pregnancy may be a risk factor for maternal PTSD, which may be associated with the presence of ASD symptoms/behaviors in the offspring at age three. This study underscores the effect of maternal exposure to disasters on the trajectory of child development, a critical factor in planning disaster preparedness programs. (C) 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.