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Review
. 2022;67(1):28-33.
doi: 10.1007/s00278-021-00552-z. Epub 2021 Oct 31.

[Preterm birth: a risk for mental health?]

[Article in German]
Carola Bindt  1
Affiliations
Review

[Preterm birth: a risk for mental health?]

[Article in German]
Carola Bindt. Psychotherapeut (Berl). 2022.

Abstract
in English, German

One in 12 children is born before 37 completed weeks of gestation and during the last decades survival rates and developmental outcomes of even very premature children have significantly improved. As a result, mental health sequelae of preterm birth are more frequently addressed. The manifestation of a distinct psychopathological profile with co-occurrence of symptoms associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity, autism spectrum and anxiety disorders has been recognized and discussed as "preterm behavioral phenotype", mainly affecting high-risk children with very low birth weights. Current research findings on parental psychological distress and early childhood developmental conditions after preterm birth indicate contextual factors that are of relevance, also for clinicians in psychotherapeutic practice.

Jedes zwölfte Kind kommt vor der vollendeten 37. Schwangerschaftswoche zur Welt, und in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten haben sich die Überlebens- und Entwicklungschancen selbst sehr unreifer Kinder deutlich verbessert. Damit sind auch die psychischen Folgen einer Frühgeburt in den Fokus getreten. Die Manifestation eines psychopathologischen Profils mit Symptomen von Angst‑, Aufmerksamkeits- und Autismus-Spektrum-Störungen betrifft insbesondere die Hochrisikogruppe von Kindern mit sehr niedrigem Geburtsgewicht und wird derzeit als „Frühgeborenenverhaltensphänotyp“ diskutiert. Ausgehend vom aktuellen Forschungsstand zu den elterlichen psychischen Belastungen und frühkindlichen Entwicklungsbedingungen im Kontext einer Frühgeburt finden sich potenzielle Wirkfaktoren, die auch für die psychotherapeutische Praxis relevant sind.

Keywords: Neonatal care; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Parent-child relations; Psychotherapy; Trauma.

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