To explore the relationship between prenatal parental stress and pregnancy outcome, this study investigated the hypothesis that parents of infants with defects would report greater amounts of stress in the year prior to their infant's birth than would parents of normally developing infants. Data on levels of parental stress were obtained from 37…

This study examined the behavioral effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to smoking, alcohol, and caffeinated beverages on 5-month-old infants. The sample consisted of 179 Caucasian infants and their mothers. All mothers were 19 years of age or older and had at least a tenth-grade education. Mental and motor portions of the Bayley Scales of…

Prepared as a resource for developing a 5-year plan of research for the years 1983-1987 by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, this report reviews current knowledge in three areas of perinatal medicine: pregnancy, birth, and the infant. Within each of these three general areas, several subtopics are discussed. These…

To determine which of several variables best predict aggression in hyperactive children, 38 hyperactive first-, second-, and third-graders were assessed for 12 consecutive school days on 11 behaviors associated with aggression. Behavioral items on the criterion measure, the Daily Behavior Checklist, were summed and then averaged over the 12 days…

This report focuses on the evidence about the health consequences of smoking for women, and is intended to serve the public health and medical communities as a unified source of existing scientific research. The major issues about tobacco use and women's health are examined, including trends in consumption, biomedical evidence, and determinants of…

Assesses the effects of gestational age, race, and sex on neurobehavorial responses of 510 singleton infants who were evaluated at term conceptual age using a modified Prechtl Neurologic Examination. Results suggest that gestational age at birth is the most influential variable; race is also important, but gender has minimum impact. (Author/CB)

A multiple regression analysis studied additive effects of maternal age and prenatal and perinatal factors in relation to neonatal behavior. Analysis indicated that the combination of biomedical variables significantly predicted neonatal behavior, in both cultures (Florida and Puerto Rico), suggesting that age effects increased in the presence of…

Investigated whether maltreated, substance-exposed infants have higher risk of out-of-home placement than non-abused, substance-exposed children, as well as a higher risk of death than children overall. Followed 480 infants through Illinois death registry and computerized central registry of child abuse reports. Found out-of-home placement and…

A sample of pregnant women (N=705) was given the monopolar version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) in prenatal counseling for advanced maternal age to develop normative data and to determine the factor structure of the POMS for this group of women in the first trimester of pregnancy. (SLD)

Interviews with 127 women who had recently given birth ascertained three components of learning transaction types related to learning about weight gain and alcohol and tobacco use. Majority spent most of their time in other-initiated learning episodes one-to-one or with print/nonprint material. Learning transaction types were associated with…

Study of the health behaviors and birth outcomes among 201 foreign-born and 616 U.S.-born women who received prenatal care at Boston City Hospital reveals that foreign-born women had better pre-pregnancy nutritional status and prenatal health behaviors, and their infants had greater birth weight. Limitations of this study are discussed. (Author)

Associations among adolescent attachment organization, maternal sensitivity, and infant attachment organization were examined prospectively in 72 teenaged mother-infant dyads. Pregnant teenagers' attachment organizations predicted both sensitivity and infant-mother attachments. Associations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment were…

Analysis of 109 Bahraini school children with mild mental retardation found the cause to be prenatal in 38.5%, perinatal in 11.9%, postnatal in 7.4%, and untraceable in 42%. Predisposing background factors included an illiterate father, consanguinity, and a relative with mental retardation. (Author/JDD)

Interviewed 44 women who did not obtain prenatal care. Identified four categories of reasons for nonuse: women's lifestyles differed from mainstream; stressful events took priority over prenatal care; women attempted to receive care but were discouraged, turned away, or given poor information by service delivery system personnel; and women did not…

A total of 403 black, inner-city infants born to women recruited prenatally on basis of their alcohol consumption during pregnancy were assessed on a battery of tests focusing on information processing and complexity of play. Increased prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with longer fixation duration, a result indicative of less efficient…