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Reconsidering the impact of preterm birth on language outcome
Annalisa Guarini1, Alessandra Sansavini, Cristina Fabbri
1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy. A. Guarini
Insights
Preterm birth impacts language development up to age six, affecting vocabulary, grammar, and phonological awareness. These linguistic differences suggest an atypical developmental trajectory compared to full-term infants.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Linguistics
- Pediatric neurology
Background:
- Preterm birth involves numerous risk factors impacting development.
- Hypothesizes that prematurity affects linguistic abilities beyond preschool.
- Atypical developmental trajectory in preterm infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate language development in preterm infants at age six.
- Examine the impact of preterm birth on linguistic abilities.
- Analyze interrelations among different linguistic skills.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 70 Italian preterm infants and 34 controls.
- Assessed vocabulary, grammar, and phonological awareness.
- Measured general cognitive development levels.
Main Results:
- Preterm infants showed less developed vocabulary, grammar, and phonological awareness.
- No significant general cognitive delay was observed in preterms.
- Interrelations among linguistic skills differed between preterm and full-term groups.
Conclusions:
- Preterm birth affects linguistic development up to preschool age and beyond.
- Highlights continuity between prenatal factors and later development.
- Preterm infants exhibit atypical developmental trajectories in language acquisition.
Background:
Since preterm birth is associated with a constellation of pre-, peri- and post-natal risk factors, we hypothesised that prematurity may continue to impact the development of linguistic abilities even up to the end of the preschool years and beyond, giving rise to an atypical developmental trajectory. The study tested this hypothesis at six years of age, investigating whether language is affected by preterm birth and how different linguistic abilities are interrelated.
Method:
Seventy monolingual Italian preterms and 34 age-matched controls were recruited. Linguistic abilities (vocabulary, grammar, and phonological awareness) as well as general cognitive developmental levels were measured.
Results:
No general cognitive delay emerged, but less developed abilities in vocabulary, grammar, and phonological awareness were found in preterms compared to fullterms. Moreover, the relations among the different linguistic competences differed across groups.
Conclusions:
Our study shows that even without brain damage, preterm birth continues to affect linguistic development up to the end of the preschool years, and probably beyond, highlighting a continuity between pre- and peri-natal life and subsequent development, and pointing to an atypical developmental trajectory in this population compared to fullterms (different rates of development, different strategies employed, and differences in the relationships among linguistic abilities).
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