Effortful control and attention as predictors of cognition in children born preterm

Abstract

Background: Preterm childbirth increases the risk of developmental problems. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of temperament and attention on the cognition of school-age children who were born preterm, controlling for socioeconomic variables. Material and Methods: The sample was composed of 50 six-year-old children who were born preterm with very low birth weight. The children were evaluated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) and the Cancellation Attention Test. The mothers were interviewed using the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). Statistical multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Results: 70% of the children presented average or above-average full intellectual quotient (IQ). In the attention total score, 74% of the children were also within the average range or above. High verbal IQ associated with high maternal schooling explained 73% variability of the full IQ. High attention and maternal schooling, associated with children’s temperament with more effortful control, explained 35% variability of the verbal IQ. High attention, associated with high maternal schooling and socioeconomic level, explained 37% variability of the performance IQ. The neonatal clinical variables (gestational age, birth weight, 5th-minute Apgar, and length of stay in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and hospital) were not predictors of cognitive outcomes. Conclusion: The majority of the children who were born preterm presented average or above-average cognitive and attentional performances at school age, demonstrating potential resources for learning. Taken together, attention and temperament, associated with maternal schooling and socioeconomic status, were predictors of cognitive outcomes of children born preterm at school age.

A comparative analysis of children born with low birthweight and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…According to Nobre et al .’s report, the score on the symbol cancellation attention test created by Montiel et al . presented average results, and only 26% of the children showed low or very low performance 5 . In our study, the proportion of children with low or very low performance in the VLBW/VP group was the same as that reported by Nobre et al .…”

“…Furthermore, there is a generally higher level of attention difficulties among children born preterm, even in those without ADHD diagnoses. This results in a substantial number of symptoms that fall below the diagnostic threshold, which may impact daily activities and performance at school because attention is a more important condition for learning in the classroom and at home than hyperactivity and impulsivity 1,5 . We therefore hypothesized that there would be differences in cognitive characteristics between the inattentive symptoms of children born with VLBW/VP and those with ADHD who are not born with low birthweight.…”

“…Children born very or extremely preterm with very or extremely low birthweight have a higher risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later 1–7 …”

Association between attention, nonverbal intelligence and school performance of school-age children with Autism Spectrum Disorder from a public health context in Brazil

“…It has been used and validated in Brazil for children from primary schools (Hazin et al, 2012) and pre-school children (Dias, Trevisan & Prado, 2011). This test has also been used in children with ASD (Passos, 2020) and other neurodevelopmental conditions, for example, children born preterm at risk for developmental problems (Nobre et al, 2020). It consists of three parts; each one contains a matrix with different stimuli (geometric shapes).…”

Função executiva em crianças nascidas pré-termo na fase pré-escolar

“…As trajetórias de desenvolvimento de crianças nascidas pré-termo têm sido amplamente estudadas, indicando propensão para problemas nos indicadores globais de neurodesenvolvimento (Rodrigues, Gaspardo & Linhares, 2021;Vieira & Linhares, 2011), como atraso no desenvolvimento motor (Formiga et al, 2015;Lee, Pascoe & McNicholas, 2016;Miyagishima et al, 2016), problemas na área cognitiva (Capobianco, & Cerniglia, 2017;Ionio et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2016;Nobre, Gaspardo & Linhares, 2019), e dificuldades comportamentais e emocionais (Cassiano, Gaspardo, Faciroli, Martinez & Linhares, 2017;Cassiano, Gaspardo & Linhares, 2019;Cassiano, Gaspardo & Linhares, 2022). Adicionalmente, as crianças nascidas pré-termo encontram-se mais vulneráveis do que as nascidos a termo em relevantes funções, tais como a autorregulação (Cassiano, Provenzi, Linhares, Gaspardo & Montirosso, 2020;Feldman, 2009;Klein, Gaspardo, Martinez, Grunau & Linhares, 2009), atenção (Luu et al, 2009) e função executiva (Brydges et al, 2018;Houdt, Oosterlaan, Wassenaer-Leemhuis, Van Kaam & Aarnoudse-Moens, 2019;Sandoval, Gaspardo & Linhares, 2021), diretamente relacionadas ao desenvolvimento dos processos cognitivos.…”