Premature babies more likely to be socially withdrawn adults

Babies born very prematurely and/or severely underweight are more likely to be socially withdrawn adults, according to a study recently published in The BMJ’s Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The research comes from the Bavarian Longitudinal Study, which has been following the health and wellbeing of subjects born in 1985-6 in Southern Bavaria, Germany. Two-hundred 26-year-olds who had been born very prematurely (less than 32 weeks) and/or born at a very low weight (less than 1500 grams) were compared to 197 adults of the same age who had been born at term and within the normal range.

All were assessed in a span of personality areas: introversion, neuroticism (tenseness and anxiety), openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, in an attempt to explain how birth conditions affect later life events.

“Defining a general personality profile is important because this higher order personality factor may help to partly explain the social difficulties these individuals experience in adult roles, such as in peer and partner relationships and career,” explained study leader Dieter Wolke, a professor at the University of Warwick, in a press release.

Socially withdrawn

As compared to the control group, the extremely preterm and underweight group scored significantly higher for several features: neuroticism, introversion, and decreased risk taking. Further, the participants had a significantly higher level of autism spectrum behaviors.

The results were not related to sex, income, or education level.

According to the researchers, preterm/low birth weight subjects tended to have “socially withdrawn personalities,” which are characterized by being easily worried, less socially engaged, less interested in risk taking, and less communicative. Being socially withdrawn has been shown to lead to difficulties in adulthood.

“Very premature and very low birth weight adults who have a socially withdrawn personality might experience difficulty dealing with social relationships with their peers, friends and partners,” said Wolke.

Differing brain development

The researchers have several ideas as to what caused these personality differences.

“The higher scores of [the very premature/low birthweight] adults on the socially withdrawn scale are most likely to be the result of alterations in their brain structure and functioning due to the amalgam of changes in brain development related to premature birth and prenatal and neonatal insult,” wrote the researchers in the publication.

They also theorized early stresses in the womb and over-protective parents can lead to socially-withdrawn personalities.

These traits may result in various life events. “Previous studies have found they are more likely to be bullied at school and less likely to progress to university or attain well paid employment,” said Wolke. “They are also less likely to form social contacts, to maintain romantic relationships and to have children.”

But there is hope.

“If identified early parents could be provided with techniques to foster their child’s social skills to help compensate for socially withdrawn personality characteristics.”

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