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. 2023 Mar 26;59(4):643–655. doi: 10.1007/s00127-023-02464-6

Table 2.

Associations between child neurodevelopmental or behavioural problems and maternal unemployment at child age 7 and 10 (prevalence ratio, PR, and respective 95% confidence interval, CI)

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 3
N (%) (n = 5754) Child age 7 Child age 10 Child age 7 Child age 10 Child age 7 Child age 10 7 and 10
Suspected
 Learning problems
  No 5184 (90.2) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 562 (9.8) 1.53 (1.32–1.77) 1.56 (1.33–1.83) 1.25 (1.08–1.44) 1.27 (1.08–1.49) 1.20 (1.04–1.40) 1.26 (1.07–1.48) 1.29 (1.03–1.63)
 Attention problems
  No 4528 (79.0) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 1207 (21.0) 1.12 (0.99–1.28) 1.03 (0.90–1.19) 1.04 (0.92–1.18) 0.97 (0.84–1.11) 1.02 (0.90–1.16) 0.97 (0.84–1.11) 1.08 (0.89–1.31)
 Language problems
  No 4825 (84.0) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 918 (16.0) 1.14 (0.99–1.32) 1.17 (1.01–1.36) 1.06 (0.93–1.22) 1.09 (0.94–1.25) 1.07 (0.93–1.22) 1.09 (0.94–1.27) 1.08 (0.87–1.34)
 Externalising behaviours
  No 5080 (88.7) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 649 (11.3) 1.31 (1.13–1.52) 1.50 (1.29–1.74) 1.15 (0.99–1.33) 1.32 (1.14–1.53) 1.11 (0.96–1.29) 1.29 (1.11–1.50) 1.41 (1.13–1.74)
 Developmental delay
  No 5596 (97.7) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 133 (2.3) 1.60 (1.22–2.09) 1.92 (1.49–2.49) 1.36 (1.04–1.77) 1.61 (1.24–2.11) 1.33 (1.02–1.74) 1.58 (1.20–2.06) 1.54 (1.04–2.26)
 Autism
  No 5670 (99.1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 54 (0.9) 1.10 (0.65–1.87) 1.55 (0.99–2.45) 1.25 (0.74–2.12) 1.77 (1.10–2.85) 1.20 (0.71–2.05) 1.73 (1.07–2.79) 1.42 (0.65–3.08)
 Other problemsa
  No 5387 (93.9) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 352 (6.1) 1.08 (0.87–1.34) 1.11 (0.88–1.39) 1.06 (0.85–1.31) 1.09 (0.87–1.37) 1.04 (0.83–1.29) 1.07 (0.85–1.35) 1.07 (0.77–1.49)
Diagnosed
 Learning problems
  No 5510 (96.0) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 231 (4.0) 1.56 (1.26–1.93) 1.51 (1.20–1.91) 1.31 (1.06–1.61) 1.26 (1.00–1.59) 1.28 (1.04–1.57) 1.22 (0.96–1.54) 1.31 (0.95–1.82)
 Attention problems
  No 5438 (95.0) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 288 (5.0) 1.13 (0.90–1.43) 1.31 (1.04–1.64) 1.03 (0.82–1.28) 1.19 (0.95–1.49) 1.01 (0.80–1.26) 1.15 (0.91–1.44) 1.26 (0.92–1.72)
 Language problems
  No 5078 (88.6) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 653 (11.4) 1.03 (0.87–1.22) 1.16 (0.98–1.37) 0.97 (0.82–1.14) 1.08 (0.91–1.27) 0.97 (0.82–1.14) 1.06 (0.90–1.26) 0.94 (0.72–1.22)
 Externalising behaviours
  No 5521 (96.7) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 191 (3.3) 1.29 (0.99–1.67) 1.49 (1.16–1.93) 1.11 (0.86–1.44) 1.31 (1.03–1.67) 1.07 (0.83–1.38) 1.23 (0.96–1.59) 1.44 (1.02–2.04)
 Developmental delay
  No 5626 (98.3) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 100 (1.7) 1.69 (1.26–2.28) 1.82 (1.34–2.47) 1.42 (1.06–1.91) 1.50 (1.10–2.06) 1.39 (1.04–1.87) 1.42 (1.03–1.96) 1.54 (1.00–2.39)
 Autism
  No 5692 (99.5) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 30 (0.5) 0.72 (0.29–1.79) 1.60 (0.88–2.90) 0.78 (0.31–1.96) 1.73 (0.94–3.18) 0.75 (0.30–1.89) 1.66 (0.88–3.12) 1.20 (0.40–3.60)
 Other problemsa
  No 5636 (98.3) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Yes 98 (1.7) 1.11 (0.74–1.64) 1.29 (0.88–1.89) 1.15 (0.78–1.71) 1.36 (0.93–2.00) 1.11 (0.75–1.65) 1.25 (0.83–1.87) 1.21 (0.67–2.20)
 Nr. of suspected problems
  0 3514 (62.1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  1 1219 (21.5) 1.13 (0.99–1.29) 1.09 (0.94–1.26) 1.07 (0.94–1.22) 1.04 (0.90–1.20) 1.08 (0.94–1.23) 1.05 (0.91–1.21) 1.10 (0.89–1.36)
  2+ 924 (16.3) 1.36 (1.19–1.56) 1.36 (1.18–1.57) 1.16 (1.01–1.33) 1.17 (1.01–1.35) 1.13 (0.99–1.30) 1.14 (0.98–1.32) 1.28 (1.04–1.57)
 Nr. of diagnosed problems
  0 4748 (84.5) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  1 552 (9.8) 0.91 (0.75–1.10) 1.08 (0.89–1.31) 1.04 (0.96–1.13) 1.04 (0.86–1.25) 0.87 (0.72–1.05) 1.03 (0.86–1.25) 0.76 (0.55–1.04)
  2+ 321 (5.7) 1.32 (1.08–1.62) 1.42 (1.15–1.75) 1.16 (1.05–1.27) 1.23 (1.00–1.51) 1.11 (0.91–1.35) 1.18 (0.95–1.46) 1.32 (0.99–1.76)

Model 1—crude associations

Model 2—adjusted for maternal age and educational level, in years

Model 3—adjusted for maternal age (in years), maternal educational level (in years), single mother household, singleton/multiple pregnancy, having children with less than 6 years of age in household and maternal history of a diagnosed mental disorder

aIncludes socialisation problems, anxiety problems, depression, fear, lack of self-confidence and shyness