Young Adults With Very Low Birth Weight: Leaving the Parental Home and Sexual Relationships—Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. Although most children and adults who are born very preterm live healthy lives, they have, on average, lower cognitive scores, more internalizing behaviors, and deficits in social skills. This could well affect their transition to adulthood. We studied the tempo of first leaving the parental home and starting cohabitation with an intimate partner and sexual experience of young adults with very low birth weight (<1500 g). METHODS. In conjunction with the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults, 162 very low birth weight individuals and 188 individuals who were born at term (mean age: 22.3 years [range: 18.5–27.1]) and did not have any major disability filled out a questionnaire. For analysis of their ages at events which had not occurred in all subjects, we used survival analysis (Cox regression), adjusted for gender, current height, parents' ages at the birth, maternal smoking during pregnancy, parental educational attainment, number of siblings, and parental divorce/death. RESULTS. During their late teens and early adulthood, these very low birth weight adults were less likely to leave the parental home and to start cohabiting with an intimate partner. In gender-stratified analyses, these hazard ratios were similar between genders, but the latter was statistically significant for women only. These very low birth weight adults were also less likely to experience sexual intercourse. This relationship was statistically significant for women but not for men; however, very low birth weight women and men both reported a smaller lifetime number of sex partners than did control subjects. CONCLUSIONS. Healthy young adults with very low birth weight show a delay in leaving the parental home and starting sexual activity and partnerships.