Mental risk among in utero exposed children following the Chernobyl accident

¹ Belarussian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Training, P. Brovki Str. 3, Minsk 220013, Belarus
² Institute of Power Engineering Problems, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Sosny, Minsk 220109, Belarus

Abstract

The study examined psychological development in 250 children at the age of 6-7 and 10-12, who had exposed in the prenatal period at the time of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. These children were compared to a control group of 250 children of the same age from non- and slightly contaminated areas of Belarus. The examination included psychiatric examination and intellectual assessment as well as the estimation of thyroid exposure in utero. The children of the exposed group had a lower mean fullscale IQ compared to the control group. Average IQ for subgroup of high exposed children (thyroid doses more than 1 Gy) was lower in comparison with average IQ for whole exposed group. The relative risk of mental and behavioural disorders has been estimated for emotional disorders OR=2.67, P<0.001. We conclude that probably a significant role in the genesis of borderline intellectual functioning and emotional disorders in the exposed group of children was played by unfavorable social-psychological and social-cultural factors, the break of microsocial contacts and adaptation difficulties, which appear following the evacuation and relocation from the contaminated areas.