A study published recently in JAMA Pediatrics reports finding the children of women who took antidepressants during pregnancy are more than twice as likely to exhibit the symptoms of autism. See an article at Bloomberg Business for details. Hat tip to Drudge Report for the link.
What is less clear is whether the drug caused the autism or whether having a depressed mom caused it. There is evidence people with mental disorders are more likely to have children with mental disorders, of which both autism and depression are examples.
As regular COTTonLINE readers will remember, we often caution against inferring causation from correlational studies, which this study is. On the other hand, the greatly increased use of antidepressants is contemporary with the great increase in autism diagnoses.
