Neurological Correlates

Marry a nice Finnish girl born prematurely. In Finland, very low birth weight girls grow up to be more conscientious, more agreeable, less open to new things, have lower hostility and aggressiveness, and go to sleep earlier than controls.

This reminds me of a joke: The mother sends the daughter off into the world to go find a husband. The daughter returns after a year, walking down the gangplank at the airport followed by a man wearing a suit of animal skins stitched together, a large ceremonial mask, a necklace of teeth, and carrying sacks of herbs and ground up antlers. The mother gasps, “No, I said a rich doctor!”

Full abstracts after the jump

1: J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008 Jun;49(6):609-17. Epub 2008 Mar 10.

Personality of young adults born prematurely: the Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults.

Pesonen AK, Räikkönen K, Heinonen K, Andersson S, Hovi P, Järvenpää AL, Eriksson JG, Kajantie E.

Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland.

BACKGROUND: Today, the first generations of very low birth weight (VLBW
METHODS: In this cohort study we compared personality traits among young adults (age range 18 to 27 years, mean 21.4, SD 2.19) with VLBW (n = 158) with those of term-born controls (n = 168) of same gender, age, and maternity hospital. The participants completed the Neo-Personality Inventory. RESULTS: Of the five main traits, the VLBW participants scored significantly higher in conscientiousness (MD .1, 95% CI .0 to .3; p < .03), agreeableness (MD .2, 95% CI .0 to .3; p < .001), and lower in openness to experience (MD -.1, 95% CI -.2 to .0; p < .02).
In addition, the VLBW group differed from the controls with regard to facets of neuroticism (lower hostility and impulsivity, ps < .05) and extraversion (less assertiveness p < .01). Furthermore, there were fewer undercontrolled personality profiles among the VLBW subjects (p < .01). All differences were independent of gender, age at assessment, parental education, individual school grade average, and maternal pre-eclampsia and smoking during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Young adults born with VLBW showed markedly different personality traits compared with their controls. The VLBW group displayed less negative emotions, were more dutiful and cautious, and displayed more warmth in their social relationships than their term-born peers. We present two potential mechanisms underlying these findings. The first relates to parental influences and the other to evidence linking biological mechanisms associated with prematurity with personality
characteristics in adulthood.

PMID: 18341548 [PubMed - in process]

Related Links

Depression in young adults with very low birth weight: the Helsinki study of very low-birth-weight adults. [Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008] PMID:18316675

Growth of very low birth weight infants to age 20 years. [Pediatrics. 2003] PMID:12837903

Behavioral outcomes and evidence of psychopathology among very low birth weight infants at age 20 years. [Pediatrics. 2004] PMID:15466087

Personality and all-cause mortality among older adults dwelling in a Japanese community: a five-year population-based prospective cohort study. [Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008] PMID:18403571

Sleep quality in young adults with very low birth weight–the Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults. [J Pediatr Psychol. 2008] PMID:18077474Anu-Katriina Pesonen, Katri Räikkönen, Kati Heinonen, Sture Andersson, Petteri Hovi, Anna-Liisa Järvenpää, Johan G. Eriksson, Eero Kajantie (2008) Personality of young adults born prematurely: the Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 49 (6) , 609–617 doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01874.x
1: J Pediatr Psychol. 2008 May;33(4):387-95. Epub 2007 Dec 12.

Sleep quality in young adults with very low birth weight–the Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults.

Strang-Karlsson S, Räikkönen K, Kajantie E, Andersson S, Hovi P, Heinonen K, Pesonen AK, Järvenpää AL, Eriksson JG, Paavonen EJ.

Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Biomedicum 2, Tukholmankatu 8A, Helsinki University Central Hospital, PO Box 448, FI-00029, Helsinki, Finland.
sonja.strang@helsinki.fi

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between very low birth weight (VLBW; <1,500
g) and quality and amount of sleep in young adults. METHODS: We compared 89 VLBW
and 78 term-born 19- to 26-year-old adults, by actigraphy and the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire. RESULTS: There were no group differences in sleep quality or amount (p’s >.15), although VLBW adults went to bed on average 36 min earlier (95% confidence interval 6-66 min). Shorter gestational age was related to longer sleep latency both within VLBW (standardized regression coefficient beta = -.36, p =.040) and term-born adults (beta = -.25, p =.029). CONCLUSION: Adults with VLBW had similar quality and amount of sleep as those born at term, although VLBW adults went to bed earlier, suggesting an advanced sleep phase. Within each group, a lower gestational age was related to a longer sleep onset.

PMID: 18077474 [PubMed - in process]

Related Links

Depression in young adults with very low birth weight: the Helsinki study of very low-birth-weight adults. [Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008] PMID:18316675

Very low birth weight increases risk for sleep-disordered breathing in young adulthood: the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults. [Pediatrics. 2007]
PMID:17908765

Personality of young adults born prematurely: the Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults. [J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008] PMID:18341548

Quality of life in young adults with very low birth weight. [Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2001] PMID:11668156

Behavioral outcomes and evidence of psychopathology among very low birth weight infants at age 20 years. [Pediatrics. 2004] PMID:15466087