Where both parents are depressed, the child is
at far
greater disadvantage and poorer outcomes have been observed in children up to the age of 7.32 Heightened parental anxiety may result in adverse outcomes for the child, who is also put
at increased risk of anxiety.33 Given that children born preterm are
already at some
disadvantage in comparison to their peers born
at term, an increase in the prevalence of PD among this group of parents could compound the negative impact of an early delivery on child outcomes.