D. Skuse et al., POSTNATAL-GROWTH AND MENTAL-DEVELOPMENT - EVIDENCE FOR A SENSITIVE-PERIOD, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry and allied disciplines, 35(3), 1994, pp. 521-545
For many years it has been suspected that severely impaired somatic gr
owth during early postnatal life can be associated with the subsequent
impairment of mental abilities. This study aimed to test that hypothe
sis on the basis of data gathered from a prospective whole population
survey of infant development in south London. A year's birth cohort of
1558 full-term singletons was monitored; 47 otherwise healthy cases w
ith serious growth faltering in the first year were recruited. Mental
and psychomotor abilities were assessed at 15 months. Potentially conf
ounding psychosocial variables, including cognitive stimulation receiv
ed at home, were measured contemporaneously. A statistical model was c
onstructed that enabled the timing, duration and severity of growth fa
ltering to be used as predictors of mental functioning. Up to 37% of t
he variance in cognitive and psychomotor outcome at 15 months can be e
xplained by the model. The first few postnatal months appear to consti
tute a ''sensitive period'' for the relationship between growth and me
ntal development.