Abstract
We aimed to assess comprehensively the prevalence of perinatal risks experienced by a potentially high-risk yet understudied population of children domestically adopted in the United States. Data are from participant report and medical records from mothers (n = 580) who completed a domestic adoption placement with nonrelatives at or near birth (Mean placement age = 7 days). We describe a comprehensive measure of perinatal risks, including divergences from previous assessment tools and the incorporation of multiple reporters, and report the prevalence of various types of perinatal risks. The prevalence of each specific risk factor was generally low, although several risks were more prevalent in this sample than estimates from nationally representative publicly available data. Nearly the entire sample (99%) experienced some type of risk exposure. Birth mothers who placed their children for adoption domestically in the US experience higher levels of perinatal risks than the national average, but not for all specific types of risk. Thus, the developmental trajectories of children adopted domestically may systematically differ from the general population to the extent that these specific perinatal risks impact development.
Highlights
A large and growing literature suggests that maternal experiences during pregnancy may impact child development [1,2,3,4,5]
When medical records and self-report data assessed the same construct but were discordant, we used what we considered to be the most reliable, valid scores based on the following decisions: Regarding the presence/absence of prenatal substance use, we utilized the source in which use was affirmatively reported, as both self-report and medical record data were expected to be reliable
More comprehensive measurement of potential perinatal risk captures more and more diverse experiences. We may expect this high level of overall risk because we assessed more risks than typically assessed, or because birth mothers may represent mothers who are at somewhat higher risk for pregnancy complications than the national average
Summary
A large and growing literature suggests that maternal experiences during pregnancy may impact child development [1,2,3,4,5]. Much of this literature relies on maternal self-report, which has been shown to be valid when collected appropriately [6]. Medical records and biomarker data are typically the gold-standards for assessing perinatal risks. Selfreports collected shortly after pregnancy may yield more complete information about perinatal experiences than medical record or biomarker data [7]. PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0150486 March 24, 2016
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