A comparison of the effects of preterm birth and institutional deprivation on child temperament
A comparison of the effects of preterm birth and institutional deprivation on child temperament
Both preterm birth and early institutional deprivation are associated with neurodevelopmental impairment - with both shared and distinctive features. To explore shared underlying mechanisms, this study directly compared the effects of these putative risk factors on temperament profiles in six-year-olds: Children born very preterm (<32 weeks gestation) or at very low birthweight (<1500 g) from the Bavarian Longitudinal Study (n = 299); and children who experienced >6 months of deprivation in Romanian institutions from the English and Romanian Adoptees Study (n = 101). The former were compared with 311 healthy term born controls and the latter with 52 nondeprived adoptees. At 6 years, temperament was assessed via parent reports across 5 dimensions: effortful control, activity, shyness, emotionality, and sociability. Very preterm/very low birthweight and postinstitutionalized children showed similarly aberrant profiles in terms of lower effortful control, preterm = -0.50, 95% CI [-0.67, -0.33]; postinstitutionalized = -0.48, 95% CI [-0.82, -0.14], compared with their respective controls. Additionally, postinstitutionalized children showed higher activity, whereas very preterm/very low birthweight children showed lower shyness. Preterm birth and early institutionalization are similarly associated with poorer effortful control, which might contribute to long-term vulnerability. More research is needed to examine temperamental processes as common mediators of negative long-term outcomes following early adversity.
behavior regulation, early adversity, institutional deprivation, preterm birth
1524-1533
Reyes, Lucia
22879e95-f14d-4a2c-9d21-854028864c0f
Jaekel, Julia
1d005c93-4dc1-4697-9974-2e381d50d730
Kreppner, Jana
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Rutter, Michael
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Wolke, Dieter
a8934769-73fd-40da-a780-bd334d098387
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
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1 October 2020
Reyes, Lucia
22879e95-f14d-4a2c-9d21-854028864c0f
Jaekel, Julia
1d005c93-4dc1-4697-9974-2e381d50d730
Kreppner, Jana
6a5f447e-1cfe-4654-95b4-e6f89b0275d6
Rutter, Michael
14c45b9c-5f8e-4a19-a6fc-ce40ca498069
Wolke, Dieter
a8934769-73fd-40da-a780-bd334d098387
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
180c5d1b-8848-41e4-ba25-2b6461a05b5e
Reyes, Lucia, Jaekel, Julia, Kreppner, Jana, Rutter, Michael, Wolke, Dieter and Sonuga-Barke, Edmund
(2020)
A comparison of the effects of preterm birth and institutional deprivation on child temperament.
Development and Psychopathology, 32 (4), .
(doi:10.1017/S0954579419001457).
Abstract
Both preterm birth and early institutional deprivation are associated with neurodevelopmental impairment - with both shared and distinctive features. To explore shared underlying mechanisms, this study directly compared the effects of these putative risk factors on temperament profiles in six-year-olds: Children born very preterm (<32 weeks gestation) or at very low birthweight (<1500 g) from the Bavarian Longitudinal Study (n = 299); and children who experienced >6 months of deprivation in Romanian institutions from the English and Romanian Adoptees Study (n = 101). The former were compared with 311 healthy term born controls and the latter with 52 nondeprived adoptees. At 6 years, temperament was assessed via parent reports across 5 dimensions: effortful control, activity, shyness, emotionality, and sociability. Very preterm/very low birthweight and postinstitutionalized children showed similarly aberrant profiles in terms of lower effortful control, preterm = -0.50, 95% CI [-0.67, -0.33]; postinstitutionalized = -0.48, 95% CI [-0.82, -0.14], compared with their respective controls. Additionally, postinstitutionalized children showed higher activity, whereas very preterm/very low birthweight children showed lower shyness. Preterm birth and early institutionalization are similarly associated with poorer effortful control, which might contribute to long-term vulnerability. More research is needed to examine temperamental processes as common mediators of negative long-term outcomes following early adversity.
Text
DPP Miranda Reyes et al final accepted word
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Accepted/In Press date: 11 September 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 November 2019
Published date: 1 October 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. We thank all group members, pediatricians, psychologists, and research nurses in the Bavarian Longitudinal Study and English and Romanian Adoptees Study. We are especially thankful to all study participants and their families. Data collection in the Bavarian Longitudinal Study was supported by grants PKE24, JUG14, 01EP9504, and 01ER0801 from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF). Data collection in the English and Romanian Adoptees Study was supported by grants 3700295 from the UK Medical Research Council and OPD/00248/G from the UK Department of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© Cambridge University Press 2019.
Keywords:
behavior regulation, early adversity, institutional deprivation, preterm birth
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Local EPrints ID: 434150
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/434150
ISSN: 0954-5794
PURE UUID: 5b976e64-63c3-467d-823b-fd1e03a9badb
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Date deposited: 13 Sep 2019 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:13
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Contributors
Author:
Lucia Reyes
Author:
Julia Jaekel
Author:
Jana Kreppner
Author:
Michael Rutter
Author:
Dieter Wolke
Author:
Edmund Sonuga-Barke
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