Associations between perinatal risk and physical health in pre-adolescence in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®: the unexpected relationship with sleep disruption

Shana Adise; Clare E Palmer; Chandni Sheth; Andrew T Marshall; Fiona C Baker; Sandra A Brown; Linda Chang; Duncan B Clark; Rada K Dagher; Vanessa Diaz; Frank Haist; Megan M Herting; Rebekah S Huber; Kimberly LeBlanc; Karen C Lee; Huajan Liang; Janosch Linkersdörfer; Krista M Lisdahl; Jiyoung Ma; Gretchen Neigh; Megan W Patterson; Perry Renshaw; Kyung E Rhee; Calen Smith; Susan F Tapert; Wesley K Thompson; Kristina A Uban; Deborah Yurgelun-Todd; Elizabeth R Sowell

doi:10.1038/s41390-024-03288-z

Associations between perinatal risk and physical health in pre-adolescence in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®: the unexpected relationship with sleep disruption

Pediatr Res. 2024 Jun 8. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03288-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shana Adise^#¹, Clare E Palmer², Chandni Sheth³, Andrew T Marshall⁴, Fiona C Baker⁵, Sandra A Brown^{6

7}, Linda Chang⁸, Duncan B Clark⁹, Rada K Dagher^{10

11}, Vanessa Diaz⁷, Frank Haist⁷, Megan M Herting¹², Rebekah S Huber³, Kimberly LeBlanc¹¹, Karen C Lee¹³, Huajan Liang⁸, Janosch Linkersdörfer⁷, Krista M Lisdahl¹⁴, Jiyoung Ma³, Gretchen Neigh¹⁵, Megan W Patterson¹⁶, Perry Renshaw³, Kyung E Rhee¹⁷, Calen Smith⁷, Susan F Tapert⁷, Wesley K Thompson¹⁸, Kristina A Uban¹⁹, Deborah Yurgelun-Todd^#³, Elizabeth R Sowell^#²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. sadise@chla.usc.edu.
² Center for Human Development, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
⁴ Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁸ Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁹ Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹⁰ Division of Clinical and Health Services Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹¹ Division of Extramural Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹² Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹³ Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
¹⁶ University of Colorado Denver - Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, CO, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
¹⁸ Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
¹⁹ Health Society & Behavior, Program of Public Health, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
²⁰ Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. esowell@chla.usc.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 38851850
DOI: 10.1038/s41390-024-03288-z

Abstract

Background: To investigate relationships among different physical health problems in a large, sociodemographically diverse sample of 9-to-10-year-old children and determine the extent to which perinatal health factors are associated with childhood physical health problems.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ (ABCD) Study (n = 7613, ages 9-to-10-years-old) to determine the associations among multiple physical health factors (e.g., prenatal complications, current physical health problems). Logistic regression models controlling for age, sex, pubertal development, household income, caregiver education, race, and ethnicity evaluated relationships between perinatal factors and childhood physical health problems.

Results: There were significant associations between perinatal and current physical health measures. Specifically, those who had experienced perinatal complications were more likely to have medical problems by 9-to-10 years old. Importantly, sleep disturbance co-occurred with several physical health problems across domains and developmental periods.

Conclusion: Several perinatal health factors were associated with childhood health outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding and potentially improving physical health in youth. Understanding the clustering of physical health problems in youth is essential to better identify which physical health problems may share underlying mechanisms.

Impact: Using a multivariable approach, we investigated the associations between various perinatal and current health problems amongst youth. Our study highlights current health problems, such as sleep problems at 9-to-10 years old, that are associated with a cluster of factors occurring across development (e.g., low birth weight, prenatal substance exposure, pregnancy complications, current weight status, lifetime head injury). Perinatal health problems are at large, non-modifiable (in this retrospective context), however, by identifying which are associated with current health problems, we can identify potential targets for intervention and prevention efforts.

Grants and funding

K08 MH132903/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States