Kids born just a few weeks early at risk of behavioural problems

December 6, 2011 in Health

Children born just a few weeks too early are significantly more likely to have behavioural and/or emotional problems in the pre-school years, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

It is well known that children born very premature (under 32 weeks) tend to have significantly more behavioural and/or than children born full term, but it has not been clear what impact birth just a few weeks too early might have.

While the rate of very premature births has remained more or less constant for some time, the rate of moderately premature births has been rising, say the Dutch researchers.

They base their findings on more than 1,500 children whose behaviour and were assessed at the age of 4, using validated tests. All the children were part of a long term study looking at the growth, development, and of children born prematurely (The Longitudinal Preterm Outcome Project or Lollypop).

Just under 1,000 children were born between 32 and 35 weeks of pregnancy, classified as "moderately premature," and just under 600 were born at term.

Seven behavioural/emotional components were assessed, including anxiety/depression, , attention disorders, and somatic complaints - conditions with no obvious physiological cause. The prevalence of behavioural (externalising; acting out), and emotional (internalising), problems, were also assessed.

The moderately had higher scores than their term on all the measures used, clocking up an average difference in cumulative score of more than four points.

The tendency to act out was highest among the boys, one in 10 of whom externalised problem behaviours, while a similar proportion of the girls had increased levels of internalising problem behaviours. But moderately preterm children were almost 2.5 times as likely to internalise problem behaviours and just under 70% more likely to act them out than kids born at term.

They were also almost twice as likely to have somatic complaints and almost twice as likely to have behavioural and emotional problems, overall.

"Our results demonstrate that moderately premature children are more likely to already have behavioural and emotional problems before they enter school," write the authors, who suggest these children may benefit from targeted help.

This is because these types of problems tend to persist into later childhood and adolescence and are likely to affect their academic performance and friendships at school.

Journal reference: Archives of Disease in Childhood search and more info website

Provided by British Medical Journal search and more info website

not rated yet  

Rank not rated yet
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Most occupational injury and illness costs are paid by the government and private payers

UC Davis researchers have found that workers' compensation insurance is not used nearly as much as it should be to cover the nation's multi-billion dollar price tag for workplace illnesses and injuries. Instead, almost 80 ...

Health created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Early physical therapist treatment associated with reduced risk of healthcare utilization and reduced overall healthcare

A new study published in Spine shows that early treatment by a physical therapist for low back pain (LBP), as compared to delayed treatment, was associated with reduced risk of subsequent healthcare utilization and lower ...

Health created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cancer patients share web info with docs for insight, advice

(HealthDay) -- Cancer patients' primary goal in talking with their doctors about information they've found on the Internet is to get more insight and advice on the online information, new research indicates.

Health created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

P&G to add latches to make detergent packs safer

(AP) -- Procter & Gamble says it will change the design of packaging for its miniature laundry detergent product to deter children from eating the brightly colored packets that look like candy.

Health created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In Spain, 70 percent of women use contraceptives during their first sexual encounter

Contraceptive use in Spain during the first sexual encounter is similar to other European countries. However, there are some geographical differences between Spanish regions: women in Murcia use contraceptives ...

Health created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Travel to high altitudes tied to Crohn's, colitis flare-ups

(HealthDay) -- People with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and colitis, may be at increased risk for flare-ups when they fly or travel to high altitudes for skiing or mountain climbing, ...

Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity

(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...

Transvaginal mesh op restores pelvic organ prolapse at price

(HealthDay) -- Transvaginal mesh (TVM) procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery, according to ...

Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse

(Medical Xpress) -- Regardless of an organism’s biological complexity, every encephalized animal continuously makes under-informed behavioral choices that can have serious consequences. Despite its ubiquity, ...

Weight struggles? Blame new neurons in your hypothalamus

New nerve cells formed in a select part of the brain could hold considerable sway over how much you eat and consequently weigh, new animal research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests in a study published in the May issue ...

Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments

A team of scientists at McMaster University has discovered a drug, thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human while avoiding the toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.