Researchers Find No Strong Evidence Connecting Pregnancy Antidepressants to Autism Risk

For years, many pregnant women taking antidepressants have faced a frightening question: could the medication harm their child's brain development? A major new study now offers some of the strongest reassurance yet that, for most antidepressants, the answer appears to be no.

Published in The Lancet Psychiatry, the large systematic review and meta-analysis examined 37 studies involving more than 600,000 pregnancies exposed to antidepressants and nearly 25 million unexposed pregnancies. Researchers found no convincing causal link between antidepressant use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism or ADHD after accounting for parental mental health and other confounding factors.

Earlier studies had suggested antidepressant exposure might increase autism and ADHD risk. However, researchers found those associations weakened dramatically once factors such as maternal psychiatric conditions, genetics, and family environment were considered.

Interestingly, fathers who used antidepressants also showed a similar increase in the likelihood of having children with ADHD or autism. That finding strongly suggests the elevated risk may stem from shared genetic or mental health factors rather than the medications themselves.

The researchers emphasized that untreated depression during pregnancy also carries serious risks, including relapse, stress, and negative effects on both mother and baby. For women with moderate to severe depression, stopping medication may sometimes be more harmful than continuing treatment.

The study found that commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were not linked to increased autism or ADHD risk when maternal mental health conditions were properly accounted for. Only older antidepressants remained associated with higher risks, though researchers believe this may reflect more severe underlying psychiatric illness among women prescribed those medications.

Researchers note that more studies are still needed to examine factors such as dosage, trimester-specific exposure, and socioeconomic influences. Still, the new analysis provides the clearest evidence so far that antidepressants themselves are unlikely to be driving autism or ADHD risk in children.

REFERENCE: Dr. Wing-Chung Chang, et al.; Maternal and paternal antidepressant use before and during pregnancy and offspring risk of neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis; The Lancet Psychiatry; DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(26)00089-1