Behavioral Problems and Socioemotional Competence at 18 to 22 Months of Extremely Premature Children

Introduction. Several studies have shown that the cognitive development of premature children is affected. In fact, it appears to be a close relationship between prematurity, executive deficits, learning disorders, language disorders and behavioral problems. Premature children present also difficulties in viso-perceptive tasks and functional integration tasks. Objective. The main goal of this study was to assess cognitive processes (executive functions, viso-perceptual integration, viso-motor coordination, memory, environmental knowledge, language, viso-motor processing and motor skills) in seven-year-old children who were born preterm and to compare them with those of a control group, matching in sociocultural level, sex and age. Subjects and method. 20 children ranging in age between seven years and two months and seven years and 11 months, assigned to two groups (premature vs. control) participated in the present study. A protocol including standardized neuropsychological tests was designed to assess the different cognitive mentioned domains. Results. We observed that there was worse performance in several evaluated domains (v.g., executive functions and viso-motor processing) in premature children than in the control group. Conclusions. There are few studies that explore cognitive processes in hispanic-speaking children born prematurely. In the present study we selected the seven-year age window, a time in life in which essential processes begin –reading, writing and mathematical calculation-. To detect neuropsychological problems that might be influencing the academic achievement of this population, adding new findings to the field of child neuropsychology.

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Developmental Outcomes, Attachment and Parenting: Study of a Sample of Spanish Premature Children

The Spanish Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1017/sjp.2018.22 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Purificación Sierra-García ◽

María López-Maestro ◽

María José Torres-Valdivieso ◽

Celia Díaz-González ◽

Miguel Carrasco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Adjustment ◽

Behavioral Problems ◽

Maternal Stress ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

Frequent Pattern ◽

Preterm Children ◽

Premature Children ◽

Child Psychological Adjustment

AbstractThe aim of this study is to provide an overview of the development of premature children, including attachment, child psychological adjustment and parental variables. 130 children < 1,500 g or < 32 weeks at birth from two public hospitals, assessed at two years corrected age, together with their parents. Parental socio-demographic data was collected. Infant development, attachment and child psychological adjustment were evaluated, as was parental stress. The percentage of preterm children with developmental delays ranged from 5% to 21%. Girls tend to show higher levels of development than boys with effect sizes ranging from small, η2p= .02, to medium, η2p= .07. Secure attachment was the most frequent pattern in the sample. No significant differences,p< .05, between preterm children and the normative population were found on children´s behavioral problems and maternal stress levels. Despite the fact prematurity is considered to be a risk factor for a child´s development, a significant proportion of these children do not show problems in terms of developmental levels, attachment pattern and maternal stress. However, socio-emotional and affective domains, as well as psychological support programs for parenthood, should be followed up from a multidisciplinary perspective.

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