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Developmental outcomes of very preterm children with high parental education level

Carolien A van Houdt1, Aleid G van Wassenaer-Leemhuis2, Jaap Oosterlaan3

  • 1Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Neonatology, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Emma Neuroscience Group, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Early Human Development
|April 30, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Very preterm children show poorer cognitive and behavioral outcomes compared to term-born peers, even with similar high parental education. The number of highly educated parents also influences child outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric developmental neuroscience
  • Child psychology
  • Educational psychology

Background:

  • Children born very preterm often exhibit poorer cognitive, academic, and behavioral outcomes than term-born peers.
  • Previous findings may be confounded by lower parental education levels in very preterm populations.
  • Studies controlling for parental education are crucial to determine the true impact of very preterm birth.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare cognitive, academic, and behavioral functioning in very preterm and term-born children from highly educated families.
  • To investigate if outcomes differ based on whether one or both parents are highly educated.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study design with a term-born comparison group.
  • Inclusion of 113 very preterm and 38 term-born children aged 8-12 years with highly educated parents.
  • Assessment of cognitive (IQ), academic (reading, arithmetic), and behavioral functioning (attention, executive function, hyperactivity, emotional, conduct, peer problems).

Main Results:

  • Very preterm children demonstrated significantly lower cognitive functioning (10 IQ points difference) and behavioral functioning compared to term-born peers.
  • No significant differences were observed in academic functioning between the groups.
  • Children with one highly educated parent performed worse on most measures than those with two highly educated parents.

Conclusions:

  • Accurate assessment of very preterm children's outcomes requires comparison with term-born peers of similar high socioeconomic status (parental education).
  • The number of highly educated parents is a significant factor influencing child outcomes.
  • Parental education level is a critical covariate in studies of preterm birth effects.
Abstract

Keywords:
Academic achievementBehavioral functioningCognitive developmentFollow-up studiesPrematuritySocio-economic status

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