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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/72321
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Sex-specific associations between umbilical cord blood testosterone levels and language delay in early childhood |
Author: | Whitehouse, A. Mattes, E. Maybery, M. Sawyer, M. Jacoby, P. Keelan, J. Hickey, M. |
Citation: | Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2012; 53(7):726-734 |
Publisher: | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
Issue Date: | 2012 |
ISSN: | 0021-9630 1469-7610 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Andrew J. O. Whitehouse, Eugen Mattes, Murray T. Maybery, Michael G. Sawyer, Peter Jacoby, Jeffrey A. Keelan, and Martha Hickey |
Abstract: | <h4>Background</h4> 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.<h4>Methods</h4> 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.<h4>Results</h4> 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).<h4>Conclusion</h4> 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. |
Keywords: | Testosterone language delay sex-difference developmental language disorder Raine study. |
Rights: | © 2012 The Author. |
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02523.x |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02523.x |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest Paediatrics publications |
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