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Mathematics difficulties in extremely preterm children: evidence of a specific deficit in basic mathematics

Victoria Simms1, Camilla Gilmore, Lucy Cragg

  • 1Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.

Pediatric Research
|November 21, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Extremely preterm children show math difficulties due to weaker numerical representations, unlike term-born peers. Interventions should focus on improving number sense to boost mathematical skills in these children.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Extremely preterm (EP) children (<26 weeks gestation) exhibit lower academic achievement than term-born peers, particularly in mathematics.
  • This study explores the underlying reasons for mathematical difficulties in EP children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between numerical representations and mathematical achievement in extremely preterm children.
  • To compare these relationships with those in term-born children.

Main Methods:

  • Compared 219 EP children with 153 term-born controls at 11 years of age.
  • Administered standardized cognitive tests and a number estimation test to assess numerical representations.
  • Analyzed the correlation between number representation performance and mathematical achievement, controlling for cognitive ability.

Main Results:

  • EP children scored lower on all cognitive and numerical tests compared to term controls (P < 0.001).
  • A significant association between number representations and mathematical performance was found in EP children (r = 0.346, P < 0.001) but not in controls (r = 0.095, P = 0.256), even after controlling for cognitive ability.

Conclusions:

  • Deficits in numerical representations may underlie mathematical difficulties in extremely preterm children.
  • Interventions aimed at improving numerical representations could potentially enhance mathematical skills in this population.
Abstract

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