Attention capacities of preterm and term born toddlers: A multi-method approach

Jong, Marjanneke de; Verhoeven, Marjolein; Baar, Anneloes L. van

doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2015.08.015

Cited by 20 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Telford et al [ 16 ] demonstrated that VLBW preterm infants have shorter attention spans in response to social stimuli of increasing complexity than healthy term controls at a median age of 7 months, pointing to atypical attentional control. De Jong et al [ 1 ] studied the development of the attention capacity of 123 VLBW preterm infants at 18 months using eye-tracking, and compared it to that of 101 term children. The VLBW preterm infants had lower orienting and alerting attention abilities at 18 months, suggesting that they are at increased risk of attention problems at school age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We designed the experimental tasks to induce attention and object permanence based on previous reports, using a modification of the methods of de Jong et al and Lowe et al [ 1 , 9 ]. The tasks consisted of watching 3 video clips in which an actress presented different stimuli involving 2 cups and a yogurt bottle.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With recent advances in neonatology, obstetrics, and neonatal care, the survival rate of preterm infants has significantly increased. Several studies have reported that, despite the absence of structural brain injuries, very low birth weight (VLBW < 1500 g) infants are at greater risk of cognitive impairment involving object permanence, attention deficit, language delay, memory/learning problems and academic performance than term infants [ 1 – 3 ]. Therefore, it is important to provide interventions as early as possible to guide cognitive development [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe relationship between premature birth and early cognitive function as measured by eye-tracking data remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of prematurity on the development of object permanence and attention capacity using eye-tracking measures.MethodsWe prospectively studied very low birth weight (VLBW < 1500 g) preterm infants who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea and visited a follow-up clinic. Using eye-tracking measures, object permanence was assessed in 15 VLBW preterm and 10 term infants at a corrected age of 6–10 months, and attention capacity was measured in 26 VLBW preterm and 18 term children who were age-matched for the corrected age of 6–10 or18 months.ResultsNo differences were found in chronologic age (corrected age for prematurity), sex, or maternal education between the study groups. The VLBW preterm infants had lower scores than term infants on eye-tracking measures of object permanence than the term infants did at 6–10 months (P = 0.042). The VLBW preterm infants had a shorter referential gaze than the term infants did at 6–10 months (P = 0.038); moreover, the length of referential gaze of the VLBW preterm infants was significantly lower at 6–10 months than at 18 months (P = 0.047), possibly indicating a delayed trajectory of attention development.ConclusionThe VLBW preterm infants have different attention capacities and object permanence developmental markers than term infants at the corrected age of 6–10 months.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition to the reproducibility of individual differences, we examined whether these differences were associated with risk factors that are common in low‐resource settings, particularly preterm birth, but also malnutrition, and psychosocial risk factors. The possibility that infants early attentional behaviors are sensitive to these risk factors is suggested by previous studies in high‐resource settings showing slower visual orientation (Landry, Leslie, Fletcher, & Francis, ; Pel et al., ; Shah et al., ; however, see also Foreman, Fielder, Price, & Bowler, ; Hunnius, Geuze, Zweens, & Bos, ; Rose, Feldman, Jankowski, & Caro, for contrary evidence), slower attention shifts between two competing objects (Atkinson et al., ; Butcher, Kalverboer, Geuze, & Stremmelaar, ; de Jong, Verhoeven, & van Baar, ), and reduced attention to faces (Telford et al., ) in preterm infants. Further, various sources of evidence from high‐ and low‐resource settings point to poorer cognitive function in growth‐stunted children (Champakam, Srikantia, & Gopalan, ; Galler et al., ; Rose, ; Thompson et al., ) and in children raised in low socioeconomic status households (Hackman, Gallop, Evans, & Farah, ).…”

Section: Early Development Of Visual Attention In Infants In Rural Mamentioning

confidence: 99%

Early development of visual attention in infants in rural Malawi

Pyykkö

Forssman

Maleta

et al. 2018

Developmental Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Eye tracking research has shown that infants develop a repertoire of attentional capacities during the first year. The majority of studies examining the early development of attention comes from Western, high‐resource countries. We examined visual attention in a heterogeneous sample of infants in rural Malawi (N = 312–376, depending on analysis). Infants were assessed with eye‐tracking‐based tests that targeted visual orienting, anticipatory looking, and attention to faces at 7 and 9 months. Consistent with prior research, infants exhibited active visual search for salient visual targets, anticipatory saccades to predictable events, and a robust attentional bias for happy and fearful faces. Individual variations in these processes had low to moderate odd‐even split‐half and test‐retest reliability. There were no consistent associations between attention measures and gestational age, nutritional status, or characteristics of the rearing environment (i.e., maternal cognition, psychosocial well‐being, socioeconomic status, and care practices). The results replicate infants’ early attentional biases in a large, unique sample, and suggest that some of these biases (e.g., bias for faces) are pronounced in low‐resource settings. The results provided no evidence that the initial manifestation of infants’ attentional capacities is associated with risk factors that are common in low‐resource environments.

show abstract

“…In a pilot study was shown that the UTATE was feasible for use with 18-month-old children: the toddlers cooperated well during the procedure, and the data was of good quality and measured individual variation (De Jong et al, 2016b). Furthermore, sufficient split half reliability was found (De Jong et al, 2015, 2016b. In a second study, factorial validity of the UTATE was shown by a confirmatory factor analyses providing evidence for three underlying factors (i.e., orienting, alerting, and executive attention), as was expected based on the theory underlying the design of the tasks (De Jong et al, 2016a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability and Validity of the Utrecht Tasks for Attention in Toddlers Using Eye Tracking (UTATE)

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Attention problems hinder many children in their cognitive and social emotional development. Children at risk for developmental problems, like preterm born infants, are specifically known for attention difficulties. Early identification of attention difficulties is important for application of appropriate stimulation in trying to reduce further problems. Specifically designed instruments with good psychometric characteristics are needed to show difficulties in attention, that may contribute to early identification. The Utrecht Tasks of Attention in Toddlers using Eye tracking (UTATE) is an instrument to measure orienting, alerting and executive attention capacities in young children. Reliability and validity of the UTATE are specifically addressed in three studies, reported in this paper. A sample of 95 term born children assessed at 18 months of age was used that provided data for both the second and third study reported here. In addition, three other small samples were used, of which the first consisted of 12 children at 18 months with test-retest data available that are reported in the first study. Two other samples that were used in the third study, consisted of 14 children measured at 12 months, and 15 children examined at 24 months. The UTATE resulted in reliable information on eye movements and some first support for construct and predictive validity was found. Low scores on the UTATE at 18 months were found to be related to slower cognitive development as measured with the Bayley-III-NL at 24 months. Furthermore, a first indication that the UTATE is able to detect some age differences in attention was found. It is concluded that the UTATE can be used to study attention capacities in toddlers that underlie cognitive functioning and development, but further research is necessary.

show abstract

Attention capacities of preterm and term born toddlers: A multi-method approach

Abstract: Preterm children showed an increased risk for suboptimal functioning in alerting attention capacities, as early as at a toddler age.

Cited by 20 publications

References 25 publications

Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study

Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study

Early development of visual attention in infants in rural Malawi

Reliability and Validity of the Utrecht Tasks for Attention in Toddlers Using Eye Tracking (UTATE)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About