Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T09:29:29.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Psychopathology and adaptive functioning among extremely low birthweight children at eight years of age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Peter Szatmari*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University
Saroj Saigal
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University
Peter Rosenbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University
Dugal Campbell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University
*
Address correspondence to: Peter Szatmari, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals, Chedoke Division, Patterson Building, Box 2000, Station A, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship among extremely low birthweight (ELBW), psychopathology, and impairments in adaptive functioning in a regional cohort of 7–8-year-old children with a birthweight of 501–1,000 g compared to a sample of full-term controls. One-hundred twenty-nine of 143 (90%) ELBW survivors and 145 controls, born between 1977 and 1981, agreed to participate in the study. The children were assessed at a mean, unadjusted age of 7.8 years. Results showed that parents of ELBW children were more likely than parents of controls to report specifically problems of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There were few differences between the groups in terms of impairments in adaptive functioning. Further analyses showed that the relationship between ELBW and ADHD could not be explained by confounding psychosocial risk factors, nor were ELBW children from disadvantaged environments more likely to have ADHD problems than ELBW children from nondisadvantaged environments. The relationships between ELBW and ADHD problems appeared to be associated with the lower IQ of the ELBW subjects.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Boyle, M. H., Offord, D. R., Hofmann, H. G., Catlin, G. P., Byles, J. A., Cadman, D. T., Crawford, J. W., Links, P. S., Rae-Grant, N. I., & Szatmari, P. (1987). Ontario Child Health Study: Methodology. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 826831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Breslau, N., Klein, N., & Allen, L. (1988). Very low birthweight: Behavioral sequelae at nine years of age. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 605612.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brunshaw, J. P., & Szatmari, P. (1988). The agreement between behavior checklists and structured psychiatric interviews for children. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 474481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byles, J. A., Byrne, C., Boyle, M. H., & Offord, D. R. (1988). Ontario Child Health Study: Reliability and validity of the general functioning scale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device. Family Process, 27, 97104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Escalona, S. K. (1982). Babies at double hazard: Early development of infants at biologic and social risk. Pediatrics, 70, 670676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hollingshead, A. B. (1969). Two-factor index of social position (mimeograph). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kitchen, W., Ford, G., Orgill, A. et al. (1987). Out-come in infants of birth weight 500 to 999 gm: A continuing regional study of five-year-old survivors. Journal of Pediatrics, 111, 761766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lefebvre, F., Bard, H., Veilleux, A., & Martel, C. (1988). Outcome at school age of children with birthweights of 1000 grams or less. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 30, 170180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Links, P. S., Boyle, M. H., Offord, D. R. (1989). Prevalence of emotional disorder in children. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 8591.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCormick, M. C., Gortmacker, S. L., & Sobol, A. (1990). Very low birthweight children: Behavior problems and school difficulty in a national sample. Journal of Pediatrics, 117, 687693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nickel, R. E., Bennett, F. C., & Lamson, F. N. (1982). School performance of children with birth weights of 1,000 g or less. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 136, 105110.Google ScholarPubMed
Offord, D. R. (1985). Child psychiatric disorders: Prevalence and perspectives. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 8, 637652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Offord, D. R., Boyle, M. H., Szatmari, P., Rae-Grant, N. I., Links, P. S., Cadman, D. T., Byles, J. A., Crawford, J. W., Munroe Blum, H., Byrne, C., Thomas, H., & Woodward, C. A. (1987). Ontario Child Health Study. II: Six-month prevalence of disorder and rates of service utilization. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 832836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orvaschel, H., & Walsh, G. (1984). The assessment of adaptive functioning in children: A review of existing measures suitable for epidemiological and clinical services research (DHHS Publication No. ADM 84–1343). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Piers, E. V. (1969). Manual for the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Nashville, TN: Counselor Recordings and Tests.Google Scholar
Portnoy, S., Callias, M., Wolke, D., & Gamsu, H. (1988). Five-year follow-up study of extremely low-birthweight infants. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 30, 590598.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rickards, A. L., Ford, G. W., Kitchen, W. H., Doyle, L. W., Lissenden, J. V., & Keith, C. G. (1987). Extremely-low-birthweight infants: Neurological, psychological, growth and health status beyond five years of age. Medical Journal of Australia, 147, 476481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, G., Lipper, E. G., & Auld, P. A. M. (1990). Social competence and behavior problems in premature children at school age. Pediatrics, 86, 391397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saigal, S., Szatmari, P., Rosenbaum, P., Campbell, D., & King, S. (1990). Intellectual and functional status at school entry of children who weighed 1000 gm or less at birth: A regional perspective of births in the 1980's. Journal of Pediatrics, 116, 409416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saigal, S., Rosenbaum, P., Szatmari, P., & Campbell, D. (1991). Learning disabilities and school problems in a regional cohort of extremely low birthweight (<1000 g) children: A comparison with matched term controls. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 12, 294300.Google Scholar
Saigal, S., Szatmari, P., Rosenbaum, P., Campbell, D., & King, S. (1991). Cognitive abilities and school performance of extremely low birthweight children and matched term control children at age 8 years: A regional study. Journal of Pediatrics, 118, 751760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sameroff, A. J. (1981). Longitudinal studies of preterm infants. In Friedman, S. L., & Sigman, M. (Eds.), Preterm birth and psychological development. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Sanford, M. N., Offord, D. R., Boyle, M. H., Peace, A., & Racine, Y. A. (1992). Ontario Child Health Study: Social and school impairments in children aged 6 to 16 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 6067.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (1984). The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Interview ed., Survey Form). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Szatmari, P. (1992). The epidemiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics in North America, 1, 361371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szatmari, P., Boyle, M. H., Offord, D. R. (1989a). ADDH and conduct disorder: Degree of diagnostic overlap and differences among correlates. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 865872.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szatmari, P., Offord, D. R., & Boyle, M. H. (1989b). Correlates, associated impairments and patterns of service utilization of children with attention deficit disorder: Findings from the Ontario Child Health Study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 207217.Google ScholarPubMed
Szatmari, P., Offord, D., and Boyle, M. H. (1989c). Ontario Child Health Study: Prevalence of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 219230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szatmari, P., Saigal, S., & Rosenbaum, P. (1991). The persistence of attention deficit disorders among extremely low birthweight children. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Pediatric Society,Quebec City, PQ.Google Scholar
Szatmari, P., Saigal, S., Rosenbaum, P., Campbell, D., & King, S. (1990). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders at five years of age among children born under 1000 g birthweight: A regional perspective. Developmental Medicine of Child Neurology, 32, 954962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1974). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. New York: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar