Very preterm birth not associated with mood, anxiety disorders
The team studied nearly 400 individuals from birth to adulthood. Half of the participants had been born before 32 weeks gestation or at a very low birth weight (less than 3.3 pounds), and the other half had been born at term and normal birth weight. They assessed each participant when they were 6, 8 and 26 years old using detailed clinical interviews of psychiatric disorders. "Previous research has reported increased risks for anxiety and mood disorders, but these studies were based on small samples and did not include repeated assessments for over 20 years," said Jaekel. Their results? At age 6, children were not at an increased risk of any anxiety or mood disorders, but by age 8 -- after they had entered school -- more children had an anxiety disorder. By 26, there was a tendency to have more mood disorders like depression, but the findings were not meaningfully different between the two groups. This study is the first investigation of anxiety and mood disorders in ...