The longitudinal association between potential stressful life events and the risk of psychosocial problems in 3-year-old children

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Rienke Bannink¹  Jie Luo²  Ingrid Kruizinga²  Hein Raat²  Esther M. B. Horrevorts²  Amy van Grieken²  Cathelijne L. Mieloo³ 

[1] Center for Youth and Family Rijnmond, Rotterdam, Netherlands;Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands;Department of Transforming Youth Care, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, Netherlands;

关键词: stressful life events;    psychosocial problems;    SDQ;    preschool child;    emotional and social development;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1100261

 received in 2022-11-16, accepted in 2023-02-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundExperiencing certain potentially stressful life events can impact psychosocial well-being among school-aged children and adolescents. This study aims to evaluate the association between life events occurring before age 2 and risk of psychosocial problems at 3 years of age.MethodsAll parents invited for the regular well-child visit when their child was 2 years of age by the preventive Youth Health Care in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond area, the Netherlands, were invited to participate in this study. In total 2,305 parents completed the baseline questionnaire at child age 2-years; 1,540 parents completed the questionnaire at child age 3-years. The baseline questionnaire included a life events assessment (12 items), and tension caused by the event (range 0–3). At child age 3-years the questionnaire included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to assess risk of psychosocial problems. Logistic regression models were applied.ResultsIn the current study 48.5% of families experienced ≥1 life event before child age 2 years. Divorce and problems in the relationship between the parents received the highest perceived severity score [respectively 2.1 (SD = 0.8) and 2.0 (SD = 0.7)]. Children experiencing ≥1 event before the age of 2 years were at higher risk of psychosocial problems at 3 years of age, compared to children that had experienced no life event (1–2 events OR = 1.50, 95%CI: 1.09; 2.06, and >2 events OR = 2.55, 95%CI 1.64; 4.00, respectively). When life events caused high perceived levels of tension, there was also an association with an increased risk of psychosocial problems at age 3-years (OR = 2.03, 95%CI 1.43; 2.88).ConclusionsApproximately half of children in our study experienced a potential stressful life event before the age of 2 years. Results suggest an association between experiencing a life event and risk of psychosocial problems at child age 3-years. These findings emphasize the need for child health care professionals to pay attention to life events taking place in the life of young children in order to provide appropriate support.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 van Grieken, Luo, Horrevorts, Mieloo, Kruizinga, Bannink and Raat.