ABSTRACT
Objective@#To explore the impact of maternal anxiety during pregnancy on social emotional development of toddlers aged 1-3 year old, so as to provide references for scientific early parenting and early intervention for toddlers with social emotional difficulties.@*Methods@#From September 2022 to March 2023, a total of 815 toddlers aged 1-3 who underwent physical examinations and their mothers at Nantong Maternal and Child Health Hospital were enrolled. The Chinese Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (CITSEA) was used to evaluate the social emotional ability among toddlers. Maternal anxiety evaluated using the Self rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) during prenatal visit was collected.@*Results@#The average scores on the externalizing, internalizing, dysregulation and competence domains of the CITSEA were (49.40±9.48,47.42±9.60,48.67± 10.15 , 50.07± 10.20), respectively. Among boys, the score of externalizing domain (50.89±9.45) was higher than that of girls (48.76± 9.50 ), while the score of competence domain (49.22±10.30) was lower than that of girls (51.17±9.84), and the differences were statistically significant( t =2.10, -3.03, P <0.05). The detection rates of abnormalities in the externalizing, internalizing, dysregulation, and competence domains were 7.36%, 7.12%, 7.61%, and 7.24%, respectively. Among them, boys (8.43%,6.32%, 7.96 %,7.49%) and girls (6.19%, 7.99 %,7.22%,6.96%) showed no statistical differences ( χ 2=1.50, 0.85, 0.16, 0.09, P >0.05). There were significant differences in externalizing domain scores（47.77±9.52，49.56±8.95，52.51±9.77） and competence domain scores（51.70±10.38，49.65±10.05，46.68±10.03） among toddlers of different maternal anxiety（normal, mild, moderate to severe） （ F =7.05,7.10, P <0.01）. There were significant differences in the abnormal detection rate of externalizing domain （4.81%，7.54%，11.17%） and competence domain（4.81%，6.96%，11.73%）（ χ 2=6.60，7.98， P ＜0.05）.@*Conclusion@#Maternal anxiety during pregnancy has a negative impact on the social emotional development among toddlers. In order to improve social emotional development of toddlers, multidimensional social support and education during pregnancy should be carried out.
ABSTRACT
Objective@#To understand sensory characteristics and its correlation with behavioral problems among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), so as to provide reference basis for early diagnosis and comprehensive intervention of ASD children.@*Methods@#Using cross sectional survey, 193 ASD children trained by Nantong rehabilitation institutions were recruited from September 2021 to February 2022. All children were investigated with the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) and Parent Symptom Questionnaire (PSQ).@*Results@#Among the 193 ASD children, 106 (54.9%) children had abnormal sensory characteristics, including 45 (23.3%) with possible abnormalities and 61 (31.6%) with obvious abnormalities. The abnormal rate of auditory filtering was the highest in the seven dimensions, reaching 85.0%, followed by low strength/weakness, motor sensitivity, taste/smell sensitivity, low response/seeking sensation, vision/hearing sensitivity and tactile sensitivity. The total incidence of sensory abnormalities was 93.3%. There were significant differences in six dimensions of PSQ scale scores of ASD children with different degrees of sensory abnormalities, including conduct problems, learning problems, psychosomatic disorders, impulsive hyperactivity, anxiety and hyperactivity index ( H =38.89, 38.90, 19.53, 46.34, 34.54, 54.90, P <0.01). With the aggravation of sensory abnormalities in children with ASD, the scores of all dimensions of the PSQ scale increased significantly. The total score of SSP was negatively correlated with the six dimensions of conduct problems, learning problems, psychosomatic disorders, impulsive hyperactivity, anxiety and hyperactivity index in PSQ ( r =-0.53, -0.50, -0.32, -0.55, -0.43, -0.61, P <0.01).@*Conclusion@#ASD children generally have sensory abnormalities, which coincide with severity of behavioral problems. There is a positive correlation between sensory abnormalities and behavioral problems in ASD children. More attention should be paid to the abnormal sensory characteristics of children with ASD in the future diagnosis and treatment process.
ABSTRACT
Objective@#To understand the serum vitamin A level of children aged 0-16 years in Nantong City, and to provide reference for scientific supplement of vitamin A for children and prevention of related diseases.@*Methods@#A cross-sectional survey method was used to detect the serum vitamin A level of 3 271 children aged 0-16 years old by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in Nantong Maternal and Child Health hospital from January 2017 to December 2018, and the general information of children was collected.@*Results@#The results showed that the average serum vitamin A concentration of 0-16 years old children was(0.31±0.08)mg/L, boys was(0.31±0.08)mg/L, which was lower than that of girls(0.32±0.09)mg/L. The proportion of insufficient and deficient vitamin A in boys was higher than that in girls(P<0.01); The levels of serum vitamin A were different by age groups, from high to low were >12~16, >6~12, >3~6, >1~3, ≤1 years old, the difference was statistically significant(F=3.48，P<0.05). The results showed that the proportion of normal, insufficient and deficient vitamin A in rural children were 51.2%, 43.5% and 5.3%, respectively. The proportion of vitamin A deficiency and deficiency in rural children was higher than that in urban areas(χ2=18.86，P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#The proportion of vitamin A insufficieng and deficiency among children in Nantong is higher, boys show worse vitamin A status compared of girls. More attention should be paid to these children and prevention of related diseases.