Psychometric Deficits Related to Perinatal Stress

Abstract

Based on the postulate that there is a continuum of reproductive casualty, it was hypothesized that potentially stressful perinatal experiences would subsequently produce measurable effects on certain psychologic tests in the children studied. Prospectively gathered data from 386 neurologically normal 7-year-old children were reviewed, and a perinatal stress score was derived for each by a simple count of deviant symptoms during pregnancy, delivery, and puerperium. Results marginally supported the concept of continuum of reproductive casualty but were neither clear nor systematic. The perinatal stress score may have been contaminated with items of little or no significance, which would have decreased its discriminating power.

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