Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2023 Sep 1;44(7):e455-e462. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001202. Epub 2023 Aug 8.
The purpose of this study was to compare mental health symptoms and diagnoses at age 5 years between children born <30 weeks' gestation and their term-born peers and associations with postnatal symptoms of depression and anxiety in their mothers and fathers.
Parents of children born <30 weeks' gestation (n = 106) and at term (n = 105) completed measures of anxiety and depression symptoms within 4 weeks of birth and questionnaires assessing child socioemotional symptoms and mental health/neurodevelopmental diagnostic criteria at age 5 years.
At age 5 years, children born <30 weeks' gestation were more likely to show clinically concerning levels of total difficulties (odds ratio [OR] = 3.97, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21-13.05), emotional problems (OR = 3.71, 95% CI, 1.14-12.15), and inattention/hyperactivity problems (OR = 4.34, 95% CI, 1.51-12.47) than term-born peers. They also showed higher rates of mental health/neurodevelopmental diagnoses than their term-born peers (18% vs 9%), although evidence for the group difference was weak ( p = 0.08). Maternal postnatal anxiety and depression symptoms were related to poorer child mental health outcomes in many domains. There was little evidence that paternal postnatal anxiety/depression symptoms were related to child outcomes or that any associations varied by birth group.
Children born <30 weeks' gestation showed more mental health symptoms than their term-born peers at age 5 years. Maternal postnatal distress was associated with poorer child mental health across both groups, reinforcing the need for early identification and support of mental health distress in the postnatal period to improve longer-term child well-being.
本研究旨在比较胎龄<30 周的儿童与足月出生儿童在 5 岁时的心理健康症状和诊断，并探讨其与父母产后抑郁和焦虑症状的关系。
胎龄<30 周的儿童（n=106）及其足月出生的对照组儿童（n=105）的父母在产后 4 周内完成焦虑和抑郁症状的评估，并在 5 岁时完成儿童社会情绪症状和心理健康/神经发育诊断标准的问卷评估。
在 5 岁时，胎龄<30 周的儿童更有可能出现总困难（优势比[OR] = 3.97，95%置信区间[CI]，1.21-13.05）、情绪问题（OR = 3.71，95% CI，1.14-12.15）和注意力不集中/多动问题（OR = 4.34，95% CI，1.51-12.47）的临床显著水平，与足月出生的儿童相比。他们的心理健康/神经发育诊断率也高于足月出生的儿童（18% vs 9%），尽管组间差异的证据较弱（p = 0.08）。母亲产后的焦虑和抑郁症状与许多领域儿童的心理健康结局较差有关。几乎没有证据表明父亲产后的焦虑/抑郁症状与儿童结局有关，也没有证据表明任何关联因出生组别而异。
与足月出生的儿童相比，胎龄<30 周的儿童在 5 岁时表现出更多的心理健康症状。母亲产后的焦虑抑郁与两组儿童的心理健康均较差有关，这强调了在产后早期识别和支持心理健康问题的必要性，以改善儿童的长期幸福感。
