Internalising and externalising behaviour in siblings of children born preterm Preterm birth: Internalising and externalising behaviour of siblings
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The family environment in which children grow up is associated with the development of their behaviour. It has been proposed that changes in family dynamics, associated with a child being born preterm, can influence siblings' health. We tested the hypothesis that term-born children (≤ 14 years of age) with younger preterm born siblings are at an increased risk of having higher internalising and externalising behaviour problems than term-born children with term-born siblings. We also compared scores with children without siblings. We used harmonised data from four European birth cohorts. We grouped 65,711 term-born children (49% girls) across the four cohorts as follows: risk group (with younger preterm born siblings; n = 427), reference group (with only term siblings; n = 12,371), and only-child group (without siblings; n = 52,913). We investigated whether the internalising and externalising z-standardised scores of the term-born children differ by group. The scores came from parent-completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire or Child Behaviour Checklist. Scores of the risk and only-child groups were compared to the reference group. Analyses were conducted in three age groups: ≤ 4, 5-10 and 11-14 years of age. We conducted a two-stage individual participant data meta-analysis and found no evidence of differences in internalising or externalising scores between the risk and the reference groups within any of the age groups. In contrast, the internalising and externalising scores of the only-child participants were higher than the reference group (Internalising- ≤ 4 years: mean difference (MD)=0.06 [95%CI = 0.03,0.08]; 5-10 years: MD = 0.12 [-0.01,0.25]; 11-14 years: MD = 0.07 [0.03,0.12]; Externalising- ≤ 4 years: MD = 0.06 [0.03,0.08]; 5-10 years: MD = 0.10 [0.06,0.15]; 11-14 years: MD = 0.09 [-0.03,0.21]).We found no evidence supporting that having a younger sibling born preterm is a risk factor for increased internalising or externalising behaviour. However, we observed higher internalising and externalising scores in children without siblings compared to those with term-born siblings.
Source: PLOS mental health.
Institutions: University of Oulu, University of Copenhagen, University of Liverpool, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Piedmont Reference Center for Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention, University of Turin, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Harvard University, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, University of Leicester, University of Warwick, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Essen University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, University of Helsinki, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Oulu University Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki Children's Hospital
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,496
OpenAlex ID: W4411204499