Longitudinal study of early childhood injuries and acute illnesses in the offspring of adolescent mothers who were aggressive, withdrawn, or aggressive-withdrawn in childhood.

Abstract

In a 15-year longitudinal study, the medical records of 94 children whose adolescent mothers had childhood histories of aggressive, withdrawn, aggressive-withdrawn, or normative (nondeviant) social behavior were examined. The children's annual rates of visits to the emergency room (ER) and to nonemergency medical facilities, post-ER hospitalizations, diagnoses of injuries, acute illness and infection, asthma, and emergency surgical consultations were examined between birth and 48 months of age. Group differences were found for the annual rate at which children were brought to the ER and for injury-related post-ER hospitalizations. Sons of women in the aggressive group and both sons and daughters of women in the aggressive-withdrawn group had elevated and distinctive profiles in respect to specific emergency diagnostic and treatment variables compared with children of women in the nondeviant group.