Risk Factors and Mental Disorders – Team Gardner

The aetiology of psychiatric disorders remains elusive, however, accumulating evidence suggests causal pathways comprising interaction between genetic vulnerability and key early life environmental exposures. The research aims to advance current knowledge about early key life risk factors for psychiatric disorders by combining an epidemiological populationbased approach with analyses of biological samples.

Part of the:

Research projects

Psychiatry Sweden – the register linkage

Psychiatry Sweden – the register linkage at the EPiCSS group
Tiles that reads register. Photo: Nick Youngson

Psychiatry Sweden – the register linkage at the EPiCSS group

Psychiatry Sweden (PS) contain data of the total population of Sweden. It is a register created by linkage of several national and local registers in Sweden, via the unique personal identification number and consists of approximately 15 million individuals. Our ethical approval covers occurrence, causes and consequences of mental illness, and PS can only be used for that purpose, within this research group. PI Christina Dalman.

Publications

Selected publications

Funding

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Iron deficiency is common in pregnant women. If iron deficiency is severe, this can lead to anemia. However, anemia can also be caused by other problems, such as infections and diabetes. We showed that mothers who were diagnosed with anemia at &lt
    30 weeks of pregnancy had a higher risk of having a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD), such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or intellectual disability. Because both NDDs and anemia have complex causes, we do not yet understand if maternal iron deficiency is a true cause of NDDs, hindering our ability to design appropriate clinical interventions. Too much iron can be toxic, so supplementation is not universally recommended to pregnant women. We propose to collect maternal serum samples drawn in early pregnancy and neonatal dried blood spots (i.e. PKU tests) for children affected by NDDs, their unaffected siblings, and population-based controls (total n=6200) from Swedish biobanks, and to analyze these for markers of iron status (e.g. ferritin, hepcidin). Additionally, we propose to use detailed data available from two different research cohorts to evaluate potential genetic confounding and pathways that might link maternal iron status with children’s risk of NDDs. Using a variety of complementary study designs and statistical techniques, we will critically evaluate if iron deficiency in pregnant women truly represents a modifiable risk factor for NDDs in children.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2021 - 30 November 2024
Keywords:
Epidemiology Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine Immunology in the Medical Area Mental Disorders Neurosciences Show all
Content reviewer:
Renee Gardner
22-04-2025