Browsing by Subject "adult self report"

Introduction. Preterm birth (< 37 weeks of gestation) has been associated with increased health risks in infants, with increasing morbidity for shorter gestation times. However, recently more attention has been brought to the fact that even late preterm birth (34 – 36 weeks of gestation) significantly increases the risk of morbidity and need for hospitalization. Risks are elevated in infants who are also born small for gestational age. Late preterm birth has been associated with neuromotor and cognitive developmental delays and psychiatric symptoms in childhood. Adults born late preterm have been found to have reached lower levels of educational attainment and lower income. Some studies have associated late preterm birth with diagnoses of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. This study examines whether late preterm birth is also associated with self-assessed psychiatric symptoms in adulthood. The study also examines whether the participant's gender or birth weight relative to length of gestation is a moderating factor for this association. Methods. The participants of this study are a part of the Arvo Ylppö Longitudinal Study follow-up cohort, which consists of children born in 1985-86 in maternal hospitals in the district of Uusimaa, Finland. The psychiatric symptoms of the participants were measured at approximately the age of 25 years. Measurement of symptoms was conducted with the Adult Self Report –questionnaire. The association between late preterm birth and psychiatric symptoms was examined with linear regression models. Results and discussion. Late preterm birth was not associated with increased psychiatric symptoms in adulthood. The gender or relative birth weight of participants was not a moderating factor for this association. The results highlight the need to determine the specific risk factors that have contributed to the previously discovered associations between late preterm birth and adverse outcomes. This could help further determine the groups of individuals in risk for psychiatric symptoms.