Table 2

Child health at 9 and 24 months by maternal exposure to stressful life events prior to conception and infant birth weight status, national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), 2001–2003

TotalStressful life events prior to conceptionInfant birth weight status
NoneAnyp ValueVery lowNormalp Value
Child health outcomes
Fair or poor health status (months)
 At 92.4%2.6%1.4%0.038.2%2.3%<0.001
 At 242.0%1.9%2.3%0.517.6%1.9%<0.001
Any special healthcare need (months)
 At 96.4%6.5%6.0%0.5833.5%6.0%<0.001
 At 2415.5%15.6%15.0%0.6945.5%15.0%<0.001
Any severe health condition (months)
 At 97.5%7.6%7.3%0.8017.2%7.4%<0.001
 At 248.1%7.8%9.6%0.1620.2%7.9%<0.001
  • N=6900. Weighted estimates. Tables show prevalence estimates for each child health outcome by exposure to stressful life events prior to conception and infant birth weight status. The reference categories are ‘excellent, very good or good’ health, no special healthcare need, and no severe health condition at each time point.