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Premature babies more likely to become introverted and neurotic adults

Birthweight could play a role on personality later in life

A team of British researchers has established that babies born weighing less than 3.3lbs (1.5 kg), or at a gestational age of less than 32 weeks, are more likely to become introverted, neurotic, and risk-averse as adults.

Previous studies have already established that "very low birthweight" (under 3.3lbs) and "very preterm" (pre-32 weeks) babies run a higher risk of having a lower IQ and developing autistic qualities.

Yet no study had delved into the personality of these children as adults until researchers led by Dieter Wolke, a professor in the psychology department at the University of Warwick in England, compared the personality traits of hundreds of 26-year-old men and women in Bavaria, Germany, of which two hundred had been born very prematurely and/or severely underweight, while 197 were born at term and within the normal weight range. The study was published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood (Fetal & Neonatal Edition).

According to the study's authors, "Our findings strongly suggest that these various personality characteristics cluster together in a personality profile. Based on the current findings, we suggest that VP/VLBW birth constitutes an important risk for a global socially withdrawn personality, as indicated by being easily worried, less socially engaged, less interested in risk taking and being more rigid and poorer in communication. Moreover, this personality factor is unrelated to intelligence which was found to be significantly lower in VP/VLBW adults when compared with controls."

The researchers also established that these subjects of their study were less inclined to consume alcohol, tobacco or drugs.

Physiologically, Professor Wolke believes that this personality profile may be attributable to brain development and a combination of changes in how the brain develops as a result of premature birth and "prenatal and neonatal insult."

"VP/VLBW birth is likely to elicit parental concerns and may lead to parental over-involvement, protectiveness and less risk-taking behaviors in adulthood," underline the authors, who also cited a previous study, published in December 2011 in the Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, which suggested that strict parental restrictions could lead to modifications in personality traits and an increase in neuroses.