Oliver Bonamy R, Kretschmer Tina, Maughan Barbara
School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RH, UK,
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2014 May;49(5):723-32. doi: 10.1007/s00127-013-0756-1. Epub 2013 Aug 23.
Risk factors for children's development are multifarious and co-occur, having cumulative as well as individual impacts. Yet common configurations of early childhood risks remain little understood. The current study aimed to identify patterns of early risk exposure and to examine their relationship with diverse outcomes in middle childhood.
Using latent class analysis in a large, community-based, UK sample (N = 13,699), we examined 13 putative risk factors to identify patterns of exposure.
Four risk configurations were identified: low (65 %), socio-demographic (14 %), family dysfunction (12 %), and multiple (9 %) risk classes. As expected, children in the low risk group fared best on all outcome measures, and those with multiple risk, worst. Importantly, specificity in associations with outcomes emerged, such that cognitive outcomes were predominantly linked with socio-demographic adversities, emotional difficulties with family dysfunction, and conduct problems increased across risk classes.
Better understanding of configurations of childhood risk exposures may help to target resources for children in need.
儿童发展的风险因素多种多样且同时存在，具有累积效应和个体影响。然而，幼儿期风险的常见组合仍鲜为人知。本研究旨在识别早期风险暴露模式，并考察它们与童年中期各种结果之间的关系。
在一个来自英国的大型社区样本（N = 13,699）中使用潜在类别分析，我们考察了13个假定的风险因素以识别暴露模式。
识别出四种风险组合：低风险（65%）、社会人口学风险（14%）、家庭功能失调风险（12%）和多重风险（9%）类别。正如预期的那样，低风险组的儿童在所有结果指标上表现最佳，而多重风险组的儿童表现最差。重要的是，出现了与结果相关的特异性，即认知结果主要与社会人口学逆境相关，情绪困难与家庭功能失调相关，行为问题则随着风险类别的增加而增多。
更好地理解儿童风险暴露的组合可能有助于为有需要的儿童确定资源投放目标。
