The study examines the individual and combined contribution of several cognitive variables (phonemic awareness, phonological memory, and alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric rapid naming) to word and pseudoword reading ability among first-grade Spanish children. Participants were 116 Spanish-speaking children aged 6 years and without special educational needs, all of whom were attending schools in a medium socioeconomic area. Descriptive/exploratory and bivariate analyses were performed with the data derived from three measures of reading ability (accuracy, speed, and efficiency), and hierarchical multivariate regression models were constructed. In general, the results confirm that, with the exception of non-alphanumeric rapid naming, the cognitive variables studied are predictors of reading performance for words and pseudowords, although their influence differs depending on the reading measures and type of linguistic unit considered. Phonemic awareness, phonological memory, and alphanumeric rapid naming were the best predictors of reading accuracy for words and pseudowords. Variability in the other two measures of reading ability (speed and efficiency) was best explained by alphanumeric rapid naming. These results suggest that reading is a complex skill that depends on different types of cognitive variables according to the age and/or level of the reader, the type of orthography and the type of measure used. Furthermore, they highlight the need to provide instruction in these processes from an early age so as to address or prevent the problems that children may present.

NCT01951040.

Based on a retrospective cohort design with 6-year-old children born in twin births, the relationship between verbal, non-verbal, global neuropsychological development, general intelligence and type of delivery has been studied. To this end, the possible effect of third gestational, obstetric and neonatal variables, such as maternal age at delivery, fetal presentation, gestational age, newborn weight and Apgar at minute one, was controlled. The exposed cohort includes children born by cesarean section, and the unexposed cohort is composed of children born vaginally with or without induction. A total of 124 children were evaluated in their 1st year of primary school using the Child Neuropsychological Maturity Questionnaire, Kaufman’s Intelligence Test and the medical histories of the children collected after birth. By means of binary logistic regression analysis, it has been found that the type of delivery is presented as an independent risk factor for disorders in verbal, non-verbal and global development and for the general intellectual difficulties of children born of multiple births. These results suggest the need to analyze in future prospective studies with broader samples the relationship between different types of obstetric and perinatal variables of birth type and infant neuropsychological development and general intelligence, in order to prevent possible psychological alterations from birth.

Our study confirms the impact of some obstetric variables on school achievement and psychological development of twins.

This study analyses, in children born in twin births, the relationship between reading, writing and arithmetic learning, on the one hand, and type of delivery, on the other, controlling for the effect of interaction and/or confusion of third variables (maternal age at delivery, gestational age, fetal position, birthweight, 1-min Apgar score). In the planned retrospective cohort design, the exposed cohort consisted of children born by caesarean section, and the non-exposed cohort was comprised of children born vaginally. One hundred and twenty-four children born of twin births were evaluated during their first year of primary school: K-BIT tests were used to measure intelligence; the Evalúa-1 battery was used to assess reading, writing, and arithmetic ability; and the children's clinical histories were analysed for obstetric and neonatal variables. After applying binary logistic regressions for each dependent variable, it was found that caesarean delivery in twin births appeared as a possible independent risk factor for specific learning disabilities (LDs) in reading, writing, and arithmetic.Based on these results, further research using larger samples and at more advanced ages is required in order to analyse the influence of obstetric and neonatal variables on the processes underlying specific LDs. K E Y W O R D Sarithmetic, learning disabilities, reading, twin births, type of delivery, writing | 485 GONZÁLEZ-VALENZUELA Et AL. from the need to deal 'simultaneously' with the delivery of two fetuses. Although there are international guidelines about how to deal with multiple deliveries, these are based on the recommendations of experts rather than on randomized studies (Lindstrom,

The main objective is to examine the influence of oxytocin administration during delivery on psychomotor development at age five years. This was a retrospective cohort study involving two groups: children of mothers exposed vs. not exposed to oxytocin during labor. Of the 7,465 newborns registered in our maternity service during 2006 we randomly selected an initial sample of 400 children. Of these, 146 children were assessed using the motor scale of the Battelle Developmental Inventory. Other predictor variables that could potentially act as confounders and/or interact with the main relationship were also examined. The data were subjected to bivariate analysis, estimates of measures of strength of association, stratified analysis and multivariate binary logistic regression. The results indicate that exposure to synthetic oxytocin during delivery is an independent risk factor for a delay in gross and fine motor development. This was the case after controlling for the variables duration of labor and sex of the newborn, none of which modified the effect of oxytocin on gross and fine motor development. However, sex of the newborn were shown to be confounding gross motor development. In light of these results, and with the aim of preventing possible psychomotor alterations, further studies are now needed to analyze the effect that the oxytocin dose and the duration of perfusion may have on children's subsequent development.

Este estudio examina la contribución individual y conjunta de la motivación, la comprensión lectora y la composición escrita en el rendimiento académico de adolescentes españoles de distintos niveles educativos. La muestra está formada por 203 sujetos, de edades comprendidas entre 12 y 14 años [1.º de ESO (M = 12.4 y DE =1.28), 2.º de ESO (M = 13.6 y DE = 1.02) y 3º de ESO (M = 14.2 y DE = 1.34)], de nivel sociocultural medio y con niveles intelectuales normales. Se evalúa el rendimiento académico, la comprensión lectora, la composición escrita y la motivación de logro. Se realizan análisis de correlación y análisis de regresión lineal. Los resultados indican que las variables conjuntamente estudiadas contribuyen a explicar un relevante porcentaje del rendimiento académico en los distintos niveles educativos. La comprensión lectora y la motivación explican entre un 44 y 64 % y entre un 27 y 36 %, respectivamente, de la variabilidad el rendimiento académico en las distintas edades. Se pone de manifiesto la importancia de las variables motivacionales y lingüísticas, en concreto, de la comprensión lectora, para la mejora del rendimiento académico y de la prevención del fracaso escolar en adolescentes españoles.

No abstract