Abstract
Pre-, peri- and neonatal maternal risks in a sample of mothers of children with a pervasive developmental disorder. Nowadays, the aetiology of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) remains unknown. There are a large number of clinical studies that demonstrate the high percentage of children with developmental disorders that have suffered a range of complications and perinatal risks. From this point of view, the goal of the present investigation is to analyze the presence of pre-, peri- and neonatal risks in a sample of 93 mothers of children with PDD. A self-report, structured as a questionnaire, has been the tool of choice and was employed to evaluate the perinatal risks in a series of dimensions: pregestational, perigestational, intra-childbirth, neonatal, psychosocial and sociodemographic. The significant differences that were found allow defining perinatal risks of diverse nature that can determine and describe variations in PDD. Biological risks, especially pregestational followed by perigestational ones, were more present than those of psychosocial and sociodemographic nature. The specific risks, in different combinations, are noteworthy, but they do not entail a direct cause with regard to the aetiology of PDD. Nevertheless, they represent a description of potential risks associated with them, and the recognition of their multicausality as well.
