Iliana Peralta

Professor Kylee Pastor 

Engl 11000

02 March 2022

The effects of stress on IQ

Do you recall the last time you felt stressed out? With midterms being right around the corner I wouldn’t doubt it was recent. Stress is something every human has felt at this point in their lives. As we all know, stress is capable of affecting us physically as well as emotionally, when we are under a certain amount of pressure our bodies react in many different ways to express it. Being under constant tension can cause headaches, chest pain, problems with sleep and can also lead to depression and many forms of anxiety. Many researchers and articles have been published throughout the years highlighting how trauma and stress are capable of affecting our mental health and bodies, but have you thought about the effects stress has on your IQ? My goal in this paper is to provide insight on how stress is capable of having a negative impact, not only physically and emotionally, but on your IQ as well. We will analyze four articles that discuss the consequences of stress during utero and cognitive development and how it can impact a growing child’s brain development and into their adulthood.

UTERO DEVELOPMENT

The ACT government strives to create a safe and equitable community through client centered services. It would make sense for the ACT to release an article for mothers who are victims of domestic violence, have lack of antenatal care or struggle with substance abuse and would like to find a safe and non judgemental environment where they can find information on the types of trauma in the utero and its effects. The organization was very careful on giving unbiased yet helpful information for these struggling mothers while also having an informational tone. In 2019 the ACT government released a web article named The In Utero Experience:Trauma Before Birth specifically to help case managers recognise early signs of trauma in babies and younger children and also for carers who would like to help a child who may have experienced trauma before birth. The article explains how:

“As the mother’s body is providing the care to the child , any stress the mother experiences (maternal stress) can transfer to the child…Stress experienced by the mother can lead to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol in her body, which can then be passed onto her unborn child via the placenta” (The In Utero Experience, 1). 

The same way an expecting mother has to watch her diet in order to give her child the proper nutrients for a healthy fetal development, they also need to be mindful of the hormones that get absorbed by the placenta into the fetus. These hormones can result in long-term complications, many of which we heard of like low birth weight, fetal distress (impairment of normal brain development and functioning), learning disabilities, and even hospitalization due to substance withdrawal (The In Utero Experience, 1).  Children who struggle with fetal distress can show earlier signs of anger issues where smaller incidents are capable of triggering them past their coping capacity. During the time the article was published many other articles were uploaded online about how prenatal alcohol use increases the risk of fetal development issues and the effects of stress on pregnancy. This article was not only beneficial to remind case managers of the early signs they should keep in mind and recognise in children and for carers who want to help children who experienced trauma before birth, but it was also made very accessible for the public by allowing you to able to read it for free on their website or downloading it as a pdf. 

There has also been much research done by scholars that support the fact that expecting mothers who experience antenatal stress can affect their offspring’s IQ from infancy to early adolescence. The academic journal Perceived stress during pregnancy and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs165599 polymorphism impacts on childhood IQ by Yvette N. Lamb and colleagues did research on how maternal stress is seen to be associated with many cognitive developments in offspring that result in having significantly lower FSIQ from ages seven to eleven. The study shows proof that antenatal events have a strong effect on offspring outcomes on both physical and psychological development, (Lamb et al, 461). The researchers were able to provide proof on how:

 “…the hypothesis that exposure to antenatal maternal stress has an adverse impact on the cognitive development of the offspring, evident in the main effect of maternal antenatal stress on IQ scores. This result is consistent with previous studies that have found antenatal stress to be associated with poorer cognitive performance in early childhood…It expands upon this literature by showing that this relationship extends to mid-childhood and early adolescence” (Lamb et al, 466).

The authors of this study provide extensive evidence including statistics to support their hypothesis on how antenatal maternal stress can affect future offspring and can be seen in the offsprings early adolescence, they continue saying how future researchers should seek further evidence on the relationship between COMT (an enzyme that decreases dopamine) and stress hormones in fetal neurodevelopment (Lamb et al, 468). The author’s maintained a neutral tone throughout the article, this article is very accessible to college students and professionals who would want to know more about impacts of the COMT gene and maternal stress on fetal development. Their audience is mainly researchers who would want to elaborate and investigate more on the effects of maternal stress on offsprings, the authors’ purpose for this piece was to inform the reader on how researchers and professionals need to consider gene-environment interactions alongside antenatal stress on the developing fetus and child. The authors are reliable since they used facts to back up their hypothesis and their work was posted on an online database that is accessible to many college students and professionals who may be looking into their research or wanting to learn more of the topic.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 

In the previous section, we saw how utero development can be affected by any form of stress the mother experiences during pregnancy. So how can an infant be affected by their parents’ stress if hormones aren’t absorbed directly after birth? Anyone who lived through the pandemic, no matter the age, has been greatly affected by Covid-19 in many ways. It could be financially, emotionally, or mentally, but how exactly were children between the ages of three months old and three years affected? The Guardian is a well known British daily newspaper founded in the 1800s where many scholars or journalists can publish on. Not less than a year ago, an article named Children Born During Pandemic Have Lower IQs, US study finds by Natalie Grover, highlights the effects of parental stress during the pandemic on developing children. The article was released when covid cases were starting to rise all over the world again after a significant drop creating fear and stress in many people. Natalie explains very briefly that, “The first few years of a child’s life are critical to their cognitive development. But with Covid-19…life for infants changed considerably, with parents stressed and stretched as they tried to balance work and childcare.” (Grover, 1). With less interaction with the world and people, many pandemic babies were stripped of the specific stimuli and interactions needed for a healthy cognitive development, the article states how pandemic babies appear to have scored significantly lower on tests designed to assess cognitive development (Grover, 1).  

The article does emphasize how children who come from lower economic backgrounds have scored far worse and why that may be, the article explains how: 

“The key factor influencing these lower scores in infants has likely been stress on parents who faced challenges in both working and providing full-time attentive childcare…children from lower socioeconomic families have been most affected as this resonates with many of the other financial, employment and health impacts of the pandemic” (Grover, 1). 

This web article is mainly targeted for parents who had children born during or right before the pandemic and were also born in the US, in predominantly lower income neighborhoods.  Natalie keeps a neutral tone throughout the article while informing the general public of one of the biggest effects of the pandemic on children. She brings awareness to how parental stress, specifically during the pandemic, may be the cause of children having lower Iq’s that relate to major cognitive disorders. Cognitive development is crucial for children because that time period is what allows us to have the ability to focus, remember information and develop problem solving skills. Without the necessary stimulus and interactions this can create a problem for the next generation concerning their learning abilities alongside other types of problems they could develop. This article is very accessible to the general public; you can read it for free on The Guardian online. Natalie Grover is a reliable writer, she has published over ten articles on The Guardian and is a well known writer on the business of health in London. She kept a neutral tone and had a neutral stance throughout the article since it was an informative article. 

MENTAL EFFECTS

Now, let’s look deeper into the effects of cognitive development and low IQ during childhood and its impact on you as you grow older. In the research article Childhood IQ and Adult Mental Disorders: A Test of the Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis by Karestan C. Koenen and colleagues were investigating how low IQ during childhood is associated with an increased risk of adult mental disorders like schizophrenia. They explain common causes on low IQ and adult mental disorders go back to development during childhood and before birth, the article states that:

“ These were childhood socioeconomic status, number of perinatal insults, low birth weight, and childhood maltreatment…the correlation between childhood socioeconomic status and IQ…low birth weight was defined as birth weight below 2.50 kg…childhood maltreatment…maternal rejection at age 3 years…harsh discipline at ages 7 and 9 years…physical and sexual abuse once they reached adulthood…was significant” (Koenen et al, 4). 

            By the age of 11, children who experienced any of the previously mentioned experiences during childhood development and early adolescence were already diagnosed with depression or anxiety. The researchers concluded that their theory was consistent with the fact that cognitive reserve and lower childhood IQ, can increase the risk of depression, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders that have been associated through psychosocial stress, and is linked to the effects of cognitive reserve that can make everyday life activities more challenging and stressful (Koenen et al, 7). This academic journal is available in many college databases which is very accessible for college students and researchers who plan to elaborate on this topic. During the time this article was published, there was a mental health crisis going on from 2009-2019, alongside a new bill being funded for mental health staff in schools due to an increase in depression and suicides. The purpose of this article was to shed light to where these disorders may originate from and how we can minimize it due to all of the rising cases of suicides and the mental health crisis occuring during 2009. The authors of this article kept an informative tone and are reliable since they have used studies and statistics to back their theory and were published on an online database that is accessible to many professionals. 

CONCLUSION           

            Utero and cognitive development play an important role in IQ and mental health in our lives. All of the articles we analyzed came to the same conclusion that stress during fetal development and childhood can lower the offspring’s IQ and increase the risk of mental disorders as the child grows. All of the authors used statistics and facts to support their theories. Stress hormones can result in long-term complications like low birth weight, impairment of normal brain development and functioning, learning disabilities, and hospitalization due to substance withdrawal (The In Utero Experience, 1). Also, previous studies have found that antenatal stress is associated with poorer cognitive performance in early childhood and can extend to mid-childhood and early adolescence (Lamb et al, 466). The articles also use recent events to emphasize how important cognitive development is, the first few years of a child’s life are critical to their cognitive development. But with Covid-19 shutting down business, nurseries, and playgrounds life for infants changed considerably, with parents stressed and stretched as they tried to balance work and childcare (Grover, 1). As well as, how cognitive impairment and lower childhood IQ, can increase the risk of many psychiatric disorders that have been associated through psychosocial stress, and linked to the effects of cognitive reserve that can make everyday life activities more challenging and stressful (Koenen et al, 7). The authors can all agree on the fact that growing up in a stress free environment is essential for a healthy lifestyle, so stress during this crucial developing era in the utero and childhood can cause long-term effects mentally as well as academically. These professionals wrote these articles during time periods where stress was at an all time high, with Covid cases rising and suicides being more frequent in schools. Their purpose for writing these articles was to bring awareness to the importance of creating a stress free environment where expecting mothers and children can live in to minimize mental health disorders and lower IQ.