Premature Birth Linked to Adolescent Mood Issues
June 29th, 2011
A new study suggests premature babies are at a higher risk for mood issues and other psychological challenges than full-term babies. The researchers, led by Professor Stephen Wood of the University of Melbourne in Australia, examined the results of ten separate studies evaluating the later mental health of premature babies. The findings revealed that those who were underweight or pre-term were more likely to develop mental health issues, such as depression and psychosis, in puberty. “’As more and more of these babies survive and their physical problems are combated, we are seeing an apparent increase in mood and anxiety disorders,” explains Professor Wood. “It would appear that the earlier a baby is born the more chance there is of problems of this nature occurring.”
The study is the first of its kind to provide evidence of this direct link. Wood adds, “While conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been known to be a problem in this group, this shows that the chance of developing other mental disorders is also increased. While we cannot as yet be sure of the cause of this problem in pre-term babies – indeed there could be multiple causes – we believe one factor could be how early life trauma affects the way the brain handles stress, and we are now exploring this in more detail.” Wood also believes that although parents should not be overly worried, they should be made aware of the signs of mental disturbance. He says, “We believe it is important to raise awareness of this issue and pay attention to it. It is easy to ignore or miss the signs and early care is extremely helpful. Being aware can increase the likelihood of mood disorders being diagnosed and tackled. There are many services available for young people and we would recommend psychological therapies for young people rather than medication.”
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Comments
Premature babies are at a risk for many things. Mood issues should be at the bottom of your priority list if you have a child that was born premature in my opinion.
I don’t really understand why premature babies don’t grow out of those problems like they do physical ones once they catch up in their development.
@fern-They don’t because it’s like growing out of a stroke or a blow to the head. If the brain isn’t properly developed or gets damaged, there will be problems and they will not go away. The brain is too complicated and elaborate to heal simply like most vital organs.
What’s worst of all is that you simply can’t do much to prevent a child from being born prematurely. Even a few weeks can be detrimental to an unborn child if they are unlucky. If one is born premature, then there will be several more challenges to deal with as a parent than what most others go through that have full-term babies.
This development of mood issues will be another to watch out for as they grow into their teens and beyond. These children don’t have much luck at all do they! Better to know about it than not though.
Yes we have to treat the teens when these issues arise. But maybe the more pressing problem is to try to prevent premature births from occuring at such high rates in the first place. When this is the problem, one that in many cases is so preventable, then we have to pay attention to that and put more research funding into the problem. Think about all of the scary things that can happen to a child both in the here and now and as we now see the long term that could be prevented if only the gestation was allowed to develop to full term. I know that little attention has been given to this area but maybe this is the time to give voice to that.
Hmm…biology doing it’s dirty job…anyway,what should be the ideal recourse to actually combat this? Therapy or just maybe even a few talk session for the child like at the age of 10 or so??
Underdeveloped brains don’t function correctly. Everyone already knows this. That they would wind up with mood and mental issues is a logical assumption so unsurprising.
Shouldn’t we be spending more of this research time on improving how well we can treat premature babies?
This is such crap. My child was premature, nothing that I did caused this it just happened. And she has been fine since the day she was born. Why are we always trying to find something or someone to blame for things that maybe have no explanation at all? I mean, there are going to be kids who have issues whether we like it or not and no matter what kind of home that they grow up in or how early they may have been born. Being premature does not have to mean a lifetime of health issues and it is time to stop passing the blame.
This is so good to let parents of these children with the most potential for developing these issues know early the kinds of things that they could be facing. And giving them some clues about things to be on the lookout for can seriously aid with early intervention.
To Savannah:
I completely agree with you on this one!
All too often, people (especially those trained in the medical field) find a “weaker link” to try and blame problems (in reality, the “numerous obstacles”, by definition, were produced by the blamers themselves) onto those people. Those innocent, in turn, become scapegoats and are subjected to numerous “cruel labels”, which only evolve to its’ ugliest form as time goes on.
All I wish to say to them (and yes, in their face) is this: “the reality is you were the ones who caused these things to happen to them so shut up, grow up, and leave those people (AKA: “scapegoats”) alone”!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying what you have said!
Jamie.
Interesting commenting regarding depression remaining at the bottom of the priority list. Sure, at birth, this is not a concern, however, as the child enters adolescence depression becomes a huge issue. As the child is dealing with the common stressors of entering highschool, remaining below his/her peers on the growth chart, and delayed puberty, this is a large consideration. Parents must be proactive as they reach this age. Currently, I am personally aware of a 15 year old seemingly happy female who was recently committed for suicidal ideation. Financially, well supported, involved in many extracuricular activities, and lots of friends. The problem for this individual is believed to be linked to her delayed menarche, continuous shunning by male & female peers due to her child-like appearance, and of course the expectation of her parents that she progress as others in her age group have progressed. My question to experts is how can you be pro-active, how do you treat this problem?
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