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. 2015 Jan 15;10(1):e0116552. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116552

Figure 2. Results of path analysis, model 2.

Figure 2

Significant effects of GA and SGA on neurodevelopment were identified: these were mediated by human milk feeding, complications and growth restriction at discharge. Specifically, SGA newborns were more likely to have sepsis and MV and those with lower GA were more likely to have IVH/PVL, sepsis, MV and NEC; in turn, sepsis, NEC and MV were associated with EUGR. This indicates that being SGA or having a lower GA does not have a negative impact on neurodevelopment per se, but only when it is followed by complications. Human milk feeding was more likely in newborns with higher GA (β = 0.39, p<0.001), not SGA (β = -0.16, p = 0.026) and higher SES (β = 0.17, p = 0.013). Overall this model explained 41.2% of variance of neurodevelopment (about 10% higher than the multiple regression model) and had a satisfactory goodness of fit to the data (RMSEA = 0.036, CFI = 0.960, TLI = 0.936).