In a study recently published by Lisa Croen, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, a possible link was revealed between autism and the use of antidepressants. Antidepressants, or SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), may create abnormalities in serotonin levels and serotoninergic pathways that can lead to autism.

According to Croen, women are twice as likely to give birth to a child with autism when taking antidepressants,  compared to woment taking no antidepressants during their pregnancy (6.7% versus 3.3%; OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.6). Croen’s study included 298 children with an ASD and 1,507 randomly selected controls. Croen also found that a child had the greatest odds of being born autistic if the mother took an SSRI during her first trimester of pregnancy ( CI 1.5 to 7.9).

Although Croen noted that, “the fraction of cases of ASD [autism spectrum disorder] that may be attributed to use of antidepressants by the mother during pregnancy is less than 3% in our population, and it is reasonable to conclude that prenatal SSRI exposure is very unlikely to be a major risk factor for ASD," autism has been rising exponentially since the early 1990s, hand-in-hand with the rise of women taking antidepressants. This link, however preliminary, and the other birth defects associated with antidepressants (such as heart, cognitive, and ingestive problems), will be studied more closely by researchers in the future.