Eating disorders in adolescence linked to long-term depression risk for mothers

A history of eating disorders and body image concerns before or during pregnancy are associated with future depressive symptoms among mothers, according to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers from University College London used data from the ‘Children of the 90s’ cohort study, including 9,276 women. Previous studies had suggested that depressive symptoms among mothers with eating disorders might improve after the perinatal period, but those studies didn’t have such a long follow-up time to confirm that the increased risk of depressive symptoms does, in fact, persist for women who have had an eating disorder. The research team