PO-0825Do Young Adults Born With Very Low Birth Weight Have Poor Emotional, Behavioural And Social Function?

ObjectiveTo study emotional and behavioural problems, relations to friends and substance use in young adults born with very low birth weight (VLBW: less than or equal to 1500 g) compared to controls.Design/methodsA hospital-based follow-up study of 34 VLBW young adults and 35 term-born controls at 23 years of age. Data was collected using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment - Adult Self-Report (ASR) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).ResultsThe ASR total problems score was 38.6 (21.7) in the VBLW group compared with 29.0 (18.7) in the control group (p = 0.08). The VLBW group had higher scores for anxious/depressed (p = 0.04), attention problems (p = 0.03), aggressive behaviour (p = 0.05), internalising problems (p = 0.02) and critical items (p = 0.02). BDI scores did not differ between the groups. The VLBW group reported lower mean substance use (p = 0.04), mainly due to less use of alcohol. Furthermore, they reported having fewer friends, less closeness to friends, and less time spent with friends compared with controls (p = 0.05). When excluding 11 participants with cerebral palsy and/or low intelligence quotient (