Peer-reviewed article
Mental health in children born with gastroschisis.
Matilda Bräutigam, Michaela Dellenmark-Blom, Colin Reilly, Vladimir Gatzinsky, Kate Abrahamsson ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined mental health difficulties in children born with gastroschisis, a congenital abdominal wall defect. Using parent and child questionnaires, researchers found that 17-23% of children with this condition had elevated mental health difficulties, particularly in attention and emotional symptoms. Complications during the newborn period, such as infection and bowel problems, were associated with worse mental health outcomes. The findings suggest that children born with this condition need screening for mental health issues during follow-up care.
Key points
- 17.4% of children and 22.8% of parents reported elevated total mental health difficulties on the SDQ screening tool
- Greatest difficulties were on hyperactivity/inattention scales (child-report) and emotional symptoms (parent-report)
- Complicated neonatal periods with infection and bowel ischemia significantly associated with more emotional, conduct, and hyperactivity/inattention difficulties
- Children reporting stomach pain had significantly more mental health difficulties
- Authors recommend mental health screening in follow-up care but note that multi-centre studies are needed to confirm findings
Limitations
The study is limited to a single tertiary center with a small sample size (57 children aged 3-17 years), which may not be representative of the broader population with gastroschisis. The cross-sectional design with the SDQ screening tool cannot establish causation or provide definitive diagnosis of mental health conditions.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Children born with gastroschisis face multiple challenges when newborn which may increase the risk of mental health issues. This study assessed the prevalence of mental health difficulties in children with gastroschisis and associated clinical factors. METHOD: Parents of 57 children with gastroschisis aged 3-17 years and 23 children aged 11-17 years from a tertiary pediatric surgical center completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a screening instrument for mental health difficulties with four scales focusing on difficulties (Hyperactivity/inattention; Conduct problems; Emotional Symptoms; Peer relationships) and one focusing on strengths (Prosocial behavior). Clinical data were retrieved from medical records. Data was analyzed descriptively and using univariable association analysis. Significance level was considered p < 0.05. RESULT: On child-report, 17.4% and on parent-report, 22.8%, of children with GS had elevated scores on the total difficulties scale of the SDQ. The prevalence of elevated scores on SDQ subscales varied between 13.0 and 30.4% on child-report and 10.5-33.3% on parent-report, with greatest difficulties on the Hyperactivity/Inattention subscale (child-report) and Emotional Symptoms subscale (parent-report). A more complicated postoperative period with infection and bowel ischemia were significantly associated with more difficulties on the Emotional (p = 0.047), Conduct (p = 0.0074), and Hyperactivity/Inattention (p = 0.036) subscales. Children with reports of stomach pain also had more mental health difficulties (p = 0.013). CONCLUSION: Some children born with GS experience mental health difficulties, particularly following a complicated neonatal period, suggesting a need to screen for mental health issues in the follow-up. However, future multi-centre studies including self- and parent-reported assessments are needed to confirm these findings.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Mental health screening using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
- Population
- Children born with gastroschisis aged 3-17 years (n=57 for parent-report, n=23 for child-report aged 11-17) from a tertiary pediatric surgical center
Key finding
17.4% of children reported elevated total difficulties on SDQ