Anna-Riitta Heikkilä1, Marko Elovainio2,3, Hanna Raaska4, Jaakko Matomäki5, Jari Sinkkonen6, Helena Lapinleimu7. 1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. 2. Research Program Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. 3. Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. 4. Department of Child Psychiatry, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. 5. Clinical Research Centre, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland. 6. Department of Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. 7. Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
Abstract
AIM: At arrival in new home country, internationally adopted children often have intestinal parasites. International adoptees also exhibit more behavioral problems than their biological peers. We examined whether intestinal parasite infections in international adoptees on arrival in Finland are associated with their later behavioral and emotional problems. METHODS: Data for this study were sourced from the Finnish Adoption Study (FinAdo) based on parental questionnaires for all internationally adopted children under 18 years (n = 1450) who arrived in Finland from 1985 to 2007. A total of 1293 families provided sufficient information on the adoptee's background, parasitic status on arrival, and behavioral symptoms at the median time of 5 years after arrival (mean age = 7.8 years). Behavioral and emotional disorders were evaluated with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Statistical analyses were conducted using linear regression. RESULTS: Of the 1293 families, parents of 206 adoptive children reported intestinal parasites in their adopted children on arrival. Parasite-infected children had subsequently higher CBCL problem scores than the children without parasites (p < 0.001). The association between intestinal parasites and later behavioral problems was stronger than that between intestinal parasites and any other factors measured in this study, except disability. LIMITATIONS: The control group was naturally provided by the adopted children without parasite infections, but we could not compare the adopted children to non-adopted children without a defined parasite infection. We were unable to specify the effects associated with a specific parasite type. It was not possible either to include multiple environmental factors that could have been associated with behavioral problems in the models, which indicated only modest explanatory values. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, intestinal parasite infections in early childhood may be associated with children's later psychological wellbeing, even in children who move to a country with a low prevalence of parasites. Our findings may support further developments pertaining to the gut-brain theory.
AIM: At arrival in new home country, internationally adopted children often have intestinal parasites. International adoptees also exhibit more behavioral problems than their biological peers. We examined whether intestinal parasite infections in international adoptees on arrival in Finland are associated with their later behavioral and emotional problems. METHODS: Data for this study were sourced from the Finnish Adoption Study (FinAdo) based on parental questionnaires for all internationally adopted children under 18 years (n = 1450) who arrived in Finland from 1985 to 2007. A total of 1293 families provided sufficient information on the adoptee's background, parasitic status on arrival, and behavioral symptoms at the median time of 5 years after arrival (mean age = 7.8 years). Behavioral and emotional disorders were evaluated with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Statistical analyses were conducted using linear regression. RESULTS: Of the 1293 families, parents of 206 adoptive children reported intestinal parasites in their adopted children on arrival. Parasite-infectedchildren had subsequently higher CBCL problem scores than the children without parasites (p < 0.001). The association between intestinal parasites and later behavioral problems was stronger than that between intestinal parasites and any other factors measured in this study, except disability. LIMITATIONS: The control group was naturally provided by the adopted children without parasite infections, but we could not compare the adopted children to non-adopted children without a defined parasite infection. We were unable to specify the effects associated with a specific parasite type. It was not possible either to include multiple environmental factors that could have been associated with behavioral problems in the models, which indicated only modest explanatory values. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, intestinal parasite infections in early childhood may be associated with children's later psychological wellbeing, even in children who move to a country with a low prevalence of parasites. Our findings may support further developments pertaining to the gut-brain theory.
Authors: Rebecca F Slykerman; John Thompson; Karen E Waldie; Rinki Murphy; Clare Wall; Edwin A Mitchell Journal: Acta Paediatr Date: 2017-01 Impact factor: 2.299
Authors: L Saiman; J Aronson; J Zhou; C Gomez-Duarte; P S Gabriel; M Alonso; S Maloney; J Schulte Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2001-09 Impact factor: 7.124
Authors: G A Zavala; O P García; M Camacho; D Ronquillo; M Campos-Ponce; C Doak; K Polman; J L Rosado Journal: Parasite Immunol Date: 2018-03-04 Impact factor: 2.280