Abstract
Purpose: To examine how the timing of hypoxic exposure results in specific childhood outcomes and whether there is a differential effect by sex. Methods: A sample of 10,879 prospectively followed pregnancies was drawn from the Boston and Providence sites (New England, NE) of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project. Based on placental pathology, we developed and validated a measure of probable chronic placental hypoxia (CHP) and contrasted the effects of acute perinatal hypoxia on age 7 emotional, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes. Results: Perinatal hypoxia had a significant impact on multiple behavioral and cognitive outcomes in boys and girls by age 7, in contrast to probable CHP which had a differential effect on girls and boys such that there was decreased verbal IQ and increased inhibition in females alone. Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of considering the timing of obstetric complications and offspring sex in investigations of the impact of fetal and perinatal hypoxia on offspring's outcomes throughout the life course.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 455-464 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Fetal hypoxia
- Fetal programming
- Inhibition
- Sex differences
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Health(social science)
- Social Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health