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March 5, 2008Low Maternal Education Linked to Intellectual Disabilities in Offspring |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Richmond, Virginia: By applying a public health approach, researchers at three universities have discovered a key indicator for increased risk of mental retardation in the general population. The study assessed population-level risk factors by linking birth records of 12-14-year-old children in Florida with their respective public school records, over the course of a school year. Using the rationale that high-prevalence risk factors can have a substantial impact at the population level, even if the risk to the individual is low, Derek Chapman, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Community Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, Keith Scott, Professor of Psychology, at the University of Miami, and Tina L. Stanton-Chapman, Assistant Professor of Curriculum Instruction and Special Education, at the University of Virginia, found that low maternal education resulted in the highest risk of intellectual disability to offspring compared with other factors such as maternal illness, delivery complications, gestational age at birth, and even very low birth weight. Women with an education below the high school level were 8.9 times more likely to have a child with mild intellectual disability compared with women who had more than 12 years of education, but were associated with 50.9% of cases. The study's corresponding author, Derek Chapman, explained, "This approach to the study of disabilities is critical because an exclusive focus on prevention via medical interventions ignores the tremendous impact we can have by addressing social factors for which low education is a marker. The American Journal on Mental Retardation (AJMR) is the leader in reporting ground-breaking research in the biological, behavioral, and educational sciences. Since 1886, AJMR has been an essential reference for institutions, libraries, professionals, and students seeking to stay up-to-date in the fields of biology, health sciences, human services, psychology, mental retardation, and/or education. AJMR is published by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (www.aaidd.org).
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