Document Detail


Maternal life events during pregnancy and offspring language ability in middle childhood: The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20621426     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: There is accumulating evidence for a link between maternal stress during pregnancy and later behavioural and emotional problems in children. Little research has examined other developmental outcomes.
AIM: To determine the effect of maternal stress during pregnancy on offspring language ability in middle childhood.
STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal pregnancy cohort-study.
SUBJECTS: A total of 2900 mothers were recruited prior to the 18th week of pregnancy, delivering 2868 live births. The language ability of just under half of the offspring cohort (n=1309; 45.6% of original sample) was assessed in middle childhood (Mean age=10;7, Standard deviation=0;2, range: 9;5-11;11).
OUTCOME MEASURES: Language ability was measured using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R). The main predictor variable was the frequency of 10 typically 'stressful' life events experienced by mothers during early and/or late pregnancy. Children were allocated to four groups according to whether they were exposed to high maternal stress (>or=2 life events) during early pregnancy only, late pregnancy only, both, or neither.
RESULTS: Mixed-effects regression analyses revealed no association between the maternal experience of two or more stressful life events at any time-point during pregnancy and PPVT-R scores. Repeating the regression analyses with more lenient (>or=1 life events) or strict (>or=3 life events) thresholds for defining high-levels of maternal stress did not alter the pattern of findings.
CONCLUSIONS: Maternal experience of typically stressful life events during pregnancy has a negligible effect on vocabulary development to middle childhood.
Authors:
Andrew J O Whitehouse; Monique Robinson; Stephen R Zubrick; Q W Ang; Fiona J Stanley; Craig E Pennell
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2010-07-10
Journal Detail:
Title:  Early human development     Volume:  86     ISSN:  1872-6232     ISO Abbreviation:  Early Hum. Dev.     Publication Date:  2010 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-08-23     Completed Date:  2010-12-10     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7708381     Medline TA:  Early Hum Dev     Country:  Ireland    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  487-92     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Child
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Language Development*
Life Change Events*
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mother-Child Relations*
Mothers / psychology*
Pregnancy
Questionnaires
Stress, Psychological / psychology*

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