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Parents of preterm infants report comparable QOL by adulthood
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Parents of children who were born very prematurely or had a very low birthweight reported similar quality of life to parents of term infants when their children reached adulthood; child mental health problems and poor peer relationships were stronger predictors of negative parental quality of life.
“Adults born very premature or very premature or very low birth weight are less likely to live independently, more often receive social benefits, more often have periods of unemployment and are less likely to find a romantic partner than term-born controls,” Dieter Wolke, PhD, Dr rer nat hc, from the division of mental health and wellbeing at the Warwick Medical School and the department of psychology at the University of Warwick, and colleagues wrote. “These long-term consequences may also affect the quality of life of parents even when the offspring are adults.”
The researchers sought to examine the elements of a preterm infant’s childhood that may impact parental quality of life. They conducted a prospective whole-population study of 250 infants born less than 32 weeks gestation or at a weight less than 1,500 g and compared them to term infants (n = 230) and their parents (preterm or low birth weight = 219; term = 227) from birth to adulthood.
Researchers used the WHO Quality of Life assessment and the Satisfaction with Life survey to assess parental quality of life once the infants became adults (mean age = 27.3 years, 95% CI, 27.2-27.3).
Standard assessments used to examine the very premature or those with very low birth weight included neurosensory disability, academic achievement, mental health and parent-child and peer relationships.
Parental quality of life was similar for parents of very preterm or low birthweight infants and term infants (P > 0.05). Researchers found no correlation between quality of life and a child’s status as very preterm or low birth weight, the child’s academic achievement or the parent-child relationship in childhood. However, a child’s mental health status (B = 0.15, 95% CI, 0.08-0.22) and peer relationships (B = 0.09, 95% CI, 0.02-0.16) were predictive of quality of life.
“Parents feel better about themselves and their relationships when their offspring had friends and were happy during childhood,” Wolke and colleagues wrote. “This is likely to be due to the long-term adverse effects that both childhood mental health problems and social relationships can have on adult functioning.
“Both mental health problems, even when they are subclinical, and being bullied, socially excluded and without friends have been shown to have long-lasting effects on adult adaptation…,” they continued. “These affect the health-related quality of life of adults born very premature or very low birth weight or at term and are also reducing the quality of life of parents, as shown here.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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