title: The aetiology of specific language impairment: no evidence of a role for obstetric complications.
abstract: The role of obstetric complications (OC's) in Specific Language Impairment (SLI) has been investigated, but the relationship remains unclear. This study investigates the association between SLI and OC's in a sample of 194 children, participants in a family study of SLI. Initial analyses utilising a traditional case-control approach found no evidence of an association. The effect of changing the case criteria was explored, but the finding of no association remained. The relationship between OC's and various language measures was also investigated using continuous data analytic techniques. This supported the findings of the case control analysis of no association. Previous reports have suggested a specific role for either hypertension or toxaemia in pregnancy. This study found no evidence for an association between these complications of pregnancy and SLI. This study found no evidence to support an aetiological role of OC's in SLI.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Psychiatry Section, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. mjm53@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Merricks
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Stott
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Goodyer
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Bolton
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy