The study's authors said there was a plausible biological explanation for their finding. The preterm brain is particularly vulnerable to injury, and functional M.R.I. imaging of young adults born very preterm has found disruptions in brain networks similar to those found in psychiatric patients. In addition, genetic factors that would not by themselves lead to illness could be activated by preterm birth.
该研究的研究者们还指出他们的调查结果有合理的生物学解释。早产儿的大脑易受到伤害，并且他们在那些过早出生的早产儿的功能性核磁共振成像中发现了脑网络的紊乱，这些紊乱与精神病人的脑紊乱相似。除此之外，那些独自不会导致疾病的基因可能会被早产激活。
Dr. Peterson agreed that the study offered strong evidence "for a causative relationship rather than simply an association."
彼得森博士也认为这份研究提供了非常有力的证据来证明"早产与精神疾病之间的关系是因果关系，而不是简单的联系。"
The study, published online last month in Archives of General Psychiatry, used obstetric data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register, which includes information on more than 99 percent of all hospital births in the country since 1973 and contains prospectively collected information on the 95 percent of Swedish women who attend antenatal clinics.
这份研究报告上个月在《普通精神病学文献》的网上发布，该研究使用了瑞典出生登记的产科数据。这些数据包括了瑞典1973年以来99%以上医院出生个体的信息以及95%的做过产前诊断的瑞典产妇的相关信息。
The data on hospitalization came from the National Hospital Discharge Register, which contains records on all hospital diagnoses. The researchers connected the birth records to hospitalization data using the personal identification numbers assigned to all Swedish citizens.
有关住院治疗的数据来自于国立医院出院登记处，包括所有医院诊断的记录。研究人员通过每个瑞典公民都有的个人身份识别号码将出生记录和住院治疗数据连接起来。
The scientists considered two other pregnancy outcomes in addition to preterm birth: birth weight and Apgar score - a general measure of a newborn's health - at five minutes. Being small for gestational age was significantly associated only with hospitalization for drug or alcohol dependency, and Apgar score only with depressive disorder.
科学家们还分析了除早产之外的其它两种妊娠结果：出生体重和新生儿阿普加评分得分。阿普加评分是评估新生儿健康的一般性测量手段，在出生后五分钟进行检测。新生儿体重很轻只与住院治疗毒品和酒精的依赖有关联，而阿普加得分仅仅与抑郁症有关联。
The association of hospitalization for psychiatric illness with preterm birth persisted after controlling for Apgar score, poor fetal growth, maternal sociodemographics and maternal psychiatric history.
患精神疾病与早产之间的关联在人们对阿普加得分，胎儿成长不足，孕妇社会人口生活与孕妇精神病历史有一定的了解情况下一直存在。