Two scientific studies published Tuesday suggested the risk of children developing autism after their mothers used antidepressants while pregnant may be lower than previously believed.
One of the studies in the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association included 1.5 million infants in Sweden from 1996 to 2012, making it one of the largest populations ever analyzed to understand the impact of antidepressant use during pregnancy.
The study found that mothers’ use of antidepressants early in pregnancy did not increase the risk of their children developing autism.
The report said these findings ran counter to several previous studies, and the reason for the discrepancy could come down to how scientists adjust for a variety of potential confounding factors.