Stability of developmental status and risk of impairment at 24 and 36 months in late preterm infants

BackgroundFew studies investigated whether late preterm infants might have developmental delays in several domains in early life and how stable the lag in developmental status might be.AimWe aimed to examine the stability of potential delays across developmental domains at 24 and 36 months of age in late preterm (34°-36⁶ weeks) and term (≥37 weeks) children and whether the risk of delays remained high at 36 months.Study design, subjects, and outcome measureWe conducted a prospective cohort analysis of the children of pregnant women participating in the Vitamin Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial (VDAART). 652 children who were prospectively followed up and had parent-completed Ages Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3) questionnaires at both 24 and 36 months were analyzed to assess their domain-specific developmental status.Results6.61 % (42/635) of children had a late preterm birth. Developmental delays were stable between 24 and 36 months on all 5 domains for the children born preterm and on 4/5 domains for those born at term. The developmental domains with the status stability at 24 and 36 months in both late preterm and term children were the gross motor, communication, personal-social skills, and problem-solving. Late preterm children compared with term children remained at higher risk of delays at 36 months for gross motor, communication, and problem-solving skills (aOR = 4.54, 95 %CI: 1.81−10.79; aOR = 8.60, 95 %CI: 3.10−23.28 and aOR = 3.80, 95 %CI: 1.58−8.73, respectively).ConclusionLate preterm birth is associated with suboptimal development and stability in several domains at both 24 and 36 months and compared with term birth, requiring early monitoring and assessment of the developmental lag to avoid potential long-term implications.     

Does Smoking by Pregnant Women Influence IQ, Birth Weight, and Developmental Disabilities in Their Infants? A Methodological Review and Multivariate Analysis

Neuropsychologists are asked frequently to address the issue of the cause of a variety of central nervous system problems that may affect higher cortical function. One such issue is the relationship of maternal smoking to adverse reproductive outcomes involving neocortical insult including mental retardation, learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other insults that may be related to prolonged hypoxic states in utero. The instant paper develops the issue of causation as a scientific inquiry, reviews several traditional, applicable models, and critiques these models. An additional model of motility is proposed and discussed. The issue of the relationship of maternal smoking to adverse reproductive outcomes is then addressed from a review perspective along with new empirical analyses, the latter demonstrating that researchers tend to draw causal conclusions independent of whether the respective design of their studies would support conclusions about the causation of an event. Causal conclusions in the absence of causal designs have often lead to incomplete and incorrect conclusions. It is necessary to match conclusions not only to the outcomes of a research project but also to its design and accompanying limitations.     

The Embodiment of Birth

This paper rejects dualism between mind and body toview the self as an embodied biological entity. Rather thanseeing the body operating by passive mechanisms as Descartesargues, it holds it actively moves in and even defines its world. Carrying this perspective to medicine presents an attempt toincorporate or work with internal processes of the body; it issensitive to how patients identify with their bodies. Thecurrent discussion over the extent to which women should try tohave natural childbirths provides a concrete example of thedifferences between mechanistic and embodied approaches tomedicine.     

Birth cohort changes in Chinese adolescents' mental health

In China, rapid economic growth and increasing social problems constitute two basic characteristics of contemporary social change. During the process of dramatic social change, an emerging question is how adolescents' mental health has changed across birth cohorts. The present paper reviews four studies of crosstemporal meta-analysis conducted by us. By meta-analysis of previous literature, we examined changes in mean scores on mental health measures over time (from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s). It was found that since the early 1990s, Chinese adolescents' mental health deteriorated across birth cohorts, shown in increased scores on the negative indicators of mental health (e.g. mental problems, anxiety, and depression), whereas self-esteem as a positive trait decreased. The dropping trend in Chinese adolescents' mental health could be attributed to social change, especially increasing social problems. Therefore, adequate attention must be paid to potential influences of social change on individuals' psychological development.     

父母差别对待与青少年问题行为的关系：一个有调节的中介模型

通过问卷调查的方式,采用同胞不同经历问卷、关系网络问卷和问题行为量表对开封市1179名初高中学生进行研究。研究结果显示：（1）父母差别对待与外/内化问题行为呈显著正相关;同胞关系与外/内化问题行为呈显著负相关;父母差别对待和同胞关系呈显著负相关。（2）同胞关系在父母差别对待与外/内化问题行为之间起部分中介作用。（3）“父母差别对待→同胞关系→外/内化问题行为”这一中介路径的前半段受出生顺序调节;与年幼个体相比,父母差别对待对年长个体的同胞关系影响更大。出生顺序会调节父母差别对待对同胞关系的影响,提示二胎家庭要更关注年长个体的变化。     

Personality Traits Increasingly Important for Male Fertility: Evidence from Norway

We study the relationship between personality traits and fertility using a survey of Norwegian men and women born from 1927 to 1968 (N = 7017 individuals). We found that personality relates to men's and women's fertility differently; conscientiousness decreases female fertility, openness decreases male fertility and extraversion raises the fertility of both sexes. Neuroticism depresses fertility for men, but only for those born after 1956. The lower male fertility in younger cohorts high in neuroticism cannot be explained by partnership status, income or education. The proportion of childless men (at age 40 years) has increased rapidly for Norwegian male cohorts from 1940 to 1970 (from about 15 to 25 per cent). For women, it has only increased marginally (from 10 to 13 per cent). Our findings suggest that this could be partly explained by the increasing importance of personality characteristics for men's probability of becoming fathers. Men that have certain personality traits may increasingly be avoiding the long‐term commitment of having children, or their female partners are shunning entering this type of commitment with them. Childbearing in contemporary richer countries may be less likely to be influenced by economic necessities and more by individual partner characteristics, such as personality. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology     

3～6岁儿童人格发展的群组序列追踪研究

目的:运用自编幼儿人格发展教师评定问卷对幼儿人格进行追踪测量,探讨其年龄及性别发展特点。方法:用整群抽样法选取3~3.5岁、3.5~4岁、4~4.5岁3个年龄群组幼儿为被试,采用群组序列的追踪设计,进行为期1年半的追踪测量,结合潜变量增长曲线模型和多层线性模型处理数据,探讨幼儿在3~6岁间人格的发展特点。结果:(1)幼儿的智能特征、认真自控、外倾性、亲社会性、情绪稳定性5个人格维度在3~4岁发展最快,4~5岁持续增长但发展速度放缓,到5~6岁时趋于平稳;(2)女孩的认真自控和亲社会性在3岁时显著高于男孩,但在3~6岁间的增长率不存在差异,即女孩的认真自控和亲社会性在幼儿阶段发展水平始终高于男孩。结论:从家庭进入幼儿园的环境变迁促使了幼儿人格的进一步发展,5岁左右幼儿人格开始初步形成;女孩的认真自控和亲社会性水平在幼儿阶段始终高于男孩。     

The effect of preterm birth on infant negative affect and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: A preliminary examination in an underrepresented minority sample

ObjectiveTo examine the effect of preterm birth on maternal postpartum depressive symptoms and infant negative affect in an underrepresented minority sample.MethodParticipants were 102 mothers and their 3- to 10-month-old infants. Mothers completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised.ResultsRelative to normative samples, the current underrepresented minority sample of mostly Hispanics and Blacks displayed high rates of preterm birth (30%) and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms (17%). Preterm birth had a significant direct effect on postpartum depressive symptoms and infant negative affect. Additionally, there was an indirect effect of postpartum depressive symptoms on the relation between preterm birth and infant negative affect. Specifically, lower birth weight and gestational age predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms in the mother, and higher levels of depressive symptoms in the mother, in turn, predicted higher levels of infant negative affect.ConclusionFindings emphasize the importance of screening for postpartum depressive symptoms and infant negative affect among mothers and their preterm infants, especially among families from underrepresented minority backgrounds.     

Still cautious: Personality characteristics of extremely low birth weight adults in their early 30s

Extremely low birth weight survivors (ELBW; <1000 g) display a personality style characterized by cautiousness, shyness, and risk aversion in their 20s. We examined whether non-impaired ELBW survivors were still more cautious than their normal birth weight (NBW) peers at ages 30–35 and assessed the stability of this personality characteristic across approximately a decade in the oldest known cohort of ELBW survivors. Of the 154 participants tested at ages 22–26, 111 (i.e., 72%) of them returned approximately 10 years later [i.e., 69% (49/71) ELBW and 75% (62/83) NBW], and once again they completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R). We created the same theoretically and empirically derived composite measure of cautiousness at each visit by summing the EPQ-R psychoticism scale (reverse scored) and the EPQ-R lie scale. We found that ELBW adults reported higher cautiousness than their NBW counterparts at ages 30–35. We also found that levels of cautiousness remained stable over approximately 10 years in both groups. Our findings suggest that individuals born at ELBW were more cautious than NBW peers and that this personality characteristic remained stable into their early 30s. The present study appears to be the first empirical demonstration of personality stability among adult ELBW survivors.     

The impact of parents’ mental health on parent–baby interaction: A prospective study

The aims of the current study were to examine the effect of fathers’ and mothers’ pre and postnatal mental health on mother–infant and father–infant interactions. Mental health was broadly defined to include anxiety, depression and PTSD. A community sample of 44 mothers and 40 fathers from 45 families completed questionnaire measures of mental health in late pregnancy and three months postpartum. Mother–infant and father–infant interactions were observed and videoed three months postpartum and analysed using the CARE-index. Results showed that prenatal mental health, in particular anxiety, was associated with parent–infant interactions to a greater extent than postnatal mental health. Fathers’ prenatal symptoms were associated with higher paternal unresponsiveness and infant passivity whilst fathers’ postnatal symptoms were associated with higher levels of infant difficulty in the father–baby interaction. The results also indicated that mothers and fathers interaction with their babies were similar, both on average and within the couples, with 34% being inept or at risk. These findings highlight the need for early detection and prevention of both mental health and parent–infant relationship problems in fathers as well as mothers. However, further prospective and longitudinal studies are needed to understand the influences of parental mental health on the parent–infant interactions further. Also it should be noted that the mental health scores were low in this sample, which may reflect the sample characteristics. Future studies therefore would benefit from focusing on more vulnerable groups of parents.