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Adult social outcomes of extremely low birth weight survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Part of: Prenatal Origins of Adult Mental Health and Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2016

J. I. Lund ,
K. L. Day ,
L. A. Schmidt ,
S. Saigal  and
R. J. Van Lieshout
J. I. Lund*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
K. L. Day
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
L. A. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
S. Saigal
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
R. J. Van Lieshout
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
*
*Address for correspondence: J. I. Lund, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1. (Email [email protected])
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Abstract

Preterm birth and exposure to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are early physiological and psychological adversities that have been linked to reduced social functioning across the lifespan. However, the joint effects of being born preterm and being exposed to CSA on adult social outcomes remains unclear. We sought to determine the impact of exposure to both preterm birth and CSA on adult social functioning in a group of 179 extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g) survivors and 145 matched normal birth weight (>2500 g) participants in the fourth decade of life. Social outcome data from a prospective, longitudinal, population-based Canadian birth cohort initiated between the years of 1977 and 1982 were examined. At age 29–36 years, ELBW survivors who experienced CSA reported poorer relationships with their partner, worse family functioning, greater loneliness, lower self-esteem and had higher rates of avoidant personality problems than those who had not experienced CSA. Birth weight status was also found to moderate associations between CSA and self-esteem (P=0.032), loneliness (P=0.021) and family functioning (P=0.060), such that the adverse effects of CSA were amplified in ELBW survivors. Exposure to CSA appears to augment the adult social risks associated with perinatal adversity. Individuals born preterm and exposed to CSA appear to be a group at particularly high risk for adverse social outcomes in adulthood.

Keywords

child abuseextremely low birth weightlonelinessself conceptsocial functioning
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 7 , Issue 6: Themed Issue: Developmental Origins of Adult Mental Health and Illness , December 2016 , pp. 581 - 587
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Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2016 

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