The effect of short-term maternal deprivation during neonatal period on toddlers' mental health and development

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of short-term maternal deprivation during neonatal period on the level of development, as well as social, emotional and behavioral problems of infants, and to identify the variables that affect mother-child relationship at the early stages of childhood. The study was conducted on 75 subjects, which were assessed using Child Behavior Checklist ? ages 1.5 to 5 (CBC-1,5/5), as well as Ankara Development Scanning Inventory, which requires clinical assessment in addition to self-report from the mother. Information about the families and the children was gathered by having the mothers fill out a ?Child and Family Information Form?. The study compared a group of 40 children of average age 35.5±5.92 months, which were admitted to neonatal intensive care unit, with a control group of 35 children of average age 34.31±7.07 months, which were not admitted to intensive care. The results of the study has indicated that the subjects in the research group had higher total problem scores in CBCL as well as in other subcategories including Internalizing (Emotionally Reactive, Anxious Depressed, Somatic Complaints, Withdrawn), Externalizing (Attention Problems, Aggressive Behavior), Sleep Problems and Other Problems, compared to the control group. Moreover, the two groups were compared based on subcategories of CBCL that allows for DSM IV based classification and it was identified that the research group had higher scores in each of Affective Problems, Anxiety Problems, Pervasive Development Problems, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Problems, Oppositional Defiant Problems categories compared to the control group, with a significant difference between the groups. Although the developmental analysis suggests a significant statistical difference between the experimental and control groups, it was identified that this difference can be attributed to variables of sex and consanguineous marriage.