Prenatal and Paranatal Factors in the Development of Childhood Behavior Disorders

Abstract

For years the subject area of this monograph has been an intriguing one to pediatricians. Many of us have shared the feeling of the authors that there might well be a continuum of pathology following pregnancy and birth which would include children whose only disturbance would be that of behavior problems.

The evidence in this extremely well controlled study does suggest that "abnormalities of the prenatal and paranatal periods were found to be significantly associated with behavior disorders in children." The authors feel, particularly in respect to a group of children with hyperactive behavior disorders, that these are part of a continuum of abnormalities ranging from foetal death through cerebral palsy and epilepsy.