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Sex-specific associations between umbilical cord blood testosterone levels and language delay in early childhood.
- Source :
-
Journal of Child Psychology . Jul2012, Vol. 53 Issue 7, p726-734. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Background: Preliminary evidence suggests that prenatal testosterone exposure may be associated with language delay. However, no study has examined a large sample of children at multiple time-points. Methods: Umbilical cord blood samples were obtained at 861 births and analysed for bioavailable testosterone (BioT) concentrations. When participating offspring were 1, 2 and 3 years of age, parents of 767 children (males = 395; females = 372) completed the Infant Monitoring Questionnaire (IMQ), which measures Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Adaptive and Personal-Social development. Cut-off scores are available for each scale at each age to identify children with 'clinically significant' developmental delays. Chi-square analyses and generalized estimating equations examined longitudinal associations between sex-specific quartiles of BioT concentrations and the rate of developmental delay. Results: Significantly more males than females had language delay (Communication scale) at age 1, 2 and 3 years ( p-values ≤. 01). Males were also more likely to be classified as delayed on the Fine-Motor ( p = .04) and Personal-Social ( p < .01) scales at age 3 years. Chi-square analyses found a significant difference between BioT quartiles in the rate of language delay (but not Fine-Motor and Personal-Social delay) for males (age 3) and females (age 1 and 3). Generalized estimating equations, incorporating a range of sociodemographic and obstetric variables, found that males in the highest BioT quartile were at increased risk for a clinically significant language delay during the first 3 years of life, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.47 (95% CI: 1.12, 5.47). By contrast, increasing levels of BioT reduced the risk of language delay among females (Quartile 2: OR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.59; Quartile 4: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.99). Conclusion: These data suggest that high prenatal testosterone levels are a risk factor for language delay in males, but may be a protective factor for females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CHI-squared test
*CONFIDENCE intervals
*EPIDEMIOLOGY
*CORD blood
*LANGUAGE disorders
*LIQUID chromatography
*MASS spectrometry
*MULTIVARIATE analysis
*PSYCHOLOGICAL tests
*QUESTIONNAIRES
*RESEARCH funding
*STATISTICAL sampling
*SEX distribution
*STATISTICS
*T-test (Statistics)
*TESTOSTERONE
*DATA analysis
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*CHILDREN
*DISEASE risk factors
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00219630
- Volume :
- 53
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Child Psychology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 76445273
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02523.x