Background: Maternal depression is known to be associated with impairments in child cognitive development, although the effect of timing of exposure to maternal depression is unclear. Methods: Data collected for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a longitudinal study beginning in pregnancy, included self-report measures of…

The aims of this study were to determine the motor outcome of extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW; less than 1000g) or very preterm (less than 28wks) children compared with normal birthweight (NBW) children, to establish the perinatal associations of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and its cognitive and behavioural consequences. Participants…

Language abilities in two twin pairs, in which one twin suffered perinatal left hemisphere brain injury, were studied from the age of 23-30 months to 41-46 months. Twins performed similarly on tests of mental development, picture vocabulary, and receptive language, but brain-injured twins' scores were lower than controls' on expressive language.…

Examined gender differences in cognitive outcome in children born prematurely who had incurred early cerebral lesions and in a high-risk comparison group. A significant gender difference in cognitive recovery was observed in the lesion group. Girls outperformed boys on standardized intelligence tests. No gender differences were observed in the…

The use of assisted reproductive technology is increasing rapidly. Research, although sparse, has resulted in inconsistent findings as to the developmental prognosis for infants conceived by assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization and the use of fertility drugs. In the present study, the authors compared twins who were…

Addresses the utility of a noninvasive measure of cardiac vagal tone in predicting developmental outcome among infants at risk for cognitive disabilities. Results suggest that measurement of cardiac vagal tone may provide an important means for assessing risk in birth-stressed populations. (Author/RH)

From a large sample of seven-year-olds in Dunedin, New Zealand, a group of 52 boys and 32 girls with stable behavior problems was selected and compared with the remainder of the sample. Content concerns perinatal histories, family background characteristics, and developmental status, with particular reference to cognitive development. (RH)

The physical and neurobehavioral findings at 3 years of age for 39 children born to mothers on methadone- maintenance and 23 children born to drug-free comparison mothers are reported. The methadone children had a higher incidence of head circumferences less than the third percentile, nystagmus/strabismus, and otitis media. No differences were…

Reports on a longitudinal study of cognitive and motor development among infants born to adolescent and adult mothers when race, parity, socioeconomic status and prenatal care were controlled and home environment evaluated. (HOD)

Compared the performance of two groups of subjects on psychoeducational tests taken during adolescence and early adulthood. Adolescents who had received a protein supplement when they were infants scored higher on tests of knowledge, numeracy, reading, and vocabulary and showed faster reaction times in information-processing tasks than adolescents…