Posted on Monday 27th June 2011 Premature or low birthweight
babies are more than three times more likely to suffer from
anxiety and mood disorders in adolescence than full-term
infants, according to psychologists at the University of
Birmingham. Professor Stephen Wood, working with co-
investigators at the University of Melbourne in Australia,
conducted a meta-analysis of ten studies into mental health
outcomes in children born prematurely. The research, published
in Psychological Medicine, found that youngsters who were born
early or were underweight at birth were at ‘significantly
increased risk’ of mental health disorders, particularly during
their teens. In the general population psychiatric disorders
such as anxiety, depression and psychosis often emerge around
puberty although these may be preceded by emotional and
behavioural disturbances in childhood. ‘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,’ e