The increased risk of autistic disorders related to preterm birth is mediated primarily by prenatal and neonatal complications that occur more commonly among preterm infants.

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Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized, inspired by evolutionary biology, that parents should care less for children with whom they are not genetically related since these young do not contribute to the genetic ¢tness of the parents. Based on this, evolutionary psychologists have predicted that there will be an overrepresentation of step-parents as o¡enders in family-related killings of children. Data on child homicide, particularly from Canada, have supported this prediction in that the frequency of children killed was relatively high in families where one of the two parents was a step-parent. Here we present a survey of all child homicide that occurred in Sweden between 1975 and 1995. In contrast to the Canadian data, children in Sweden living in families with a step-parent were not at an increased risk compared with children living together with two parents to whom they were genetically related. In addition, there were no other indications that step-parents are overrepresented as o¡enders.

Previous studies on whether signs of infection in Pap smears imply a risk factor for preterm delivery are conflicting. In a large population-based study, we combined information from the Swedish Medical Birth Register and the Swedish Pap Smear Screening Register to investigate whether signs of infection in Pap smears increase the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) for antepartum death, preterm or small-for-gestational-age delivery. The presence of Coccobacilli or Trichomonas vaginalis in Pap smears increased the risk of small-for-gestational-age delivery (OR 1.3 and 1.4, respectively). Signs of infection in Pap smears were generally not associated with an increased risk of antepartum death or preterm birth. However, the presence of Coccobacilli in Pap smears within 4 weeks before delivery was associated with a more than fourfold increase in risk of very preterm delivery (< or =31 weeks, OR 4.7). This indicates that if Coccobacilli are detected in Pap smears during the second trimester, antibacterial treatment may lower the risk of very preterm delivery.

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