TY - JOUR

T1 - A Comparison of the effects of preterm birth and institutional deprivation on child temperament

AU - Reyes, Lucia Miranda

AU - Jaekel, Julia

AU - Kreppner, Jana

AU - Wolke, Dieter

AU - Sonuga-Barke, Edmund

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Cambridge University Press 2019.

PY - 2020/10/1

Y1 - 2020/10/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - behavior regulation

KW - early adversity

KW - institutional deprivation

KW - preterm birth

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85095861495&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/S0954579419001457

DO - 10.1017/S0954579419001457

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31711549

AN - SCOPUS:85095861495

VL - 32

SP - 1524

EP - 1533

JO - Development and Psychopathology

JF - Development and Psychopathology

SN - 0954-5794

IS - 4

ER -