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Behaviour of Finnish 3‐year‐old children. I: Effects of sociodemographic factors, mother's health, and pregnancy outcome
Author(s) -
Uljas Heikki,
Rautava Päivi,
Helenius Hans,
Sillanpää Matti
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1999.tb00627.x
Subject(s) - pregnancy , medicine , outcome (game theory) , obstetrics , pediatrics , psychology , demography , sociology , genetics , biology , mathematics , mathematical economics
The aim of this prospective follow‐up study was to assess the effects of pre‐ and perinatal factors on children's behaviour at the age of 3 years. Nulliparous women who attended a maternity health care clinic were invited to participate: 1443 women were included. Data were obtained from the mother, father, and clinic nurse. A Finnish translation of Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 2–3 was completed by 1086 families at the child's 3‐year visit to the well‐baby clinic. The results were analysed using Pearson's c 2 , multivariate regression analysis, and coefficient of determination (100’r 2 ). A good basic education (i.e. >9 years) of the mother and age over 25 years were associated with low syndrome‐scale scores, indicating fewer behavioural problems. Poor health of the mother, a high number of pregnancy‐related symptoms, and low Apgar scores for the newborn infant were associated with high syndrome‐scale scores. In this population sample, the mother's health during pregnancy together with level of education, and marital status are more important in explaining the variation in a child's behaviour than biological risks during pregnancy.