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Mathematical skills of 11-year-old children born very preterm and full-term

Hilma Halme1, Jake McMullen1, Cristina E Nanu1

  • 1Department of Teacher Education, 20014 University of Turku, Finland.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|February 26, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Children born very preterm show differences in early math skills and focus on quantitative relations compared to full-term peers. By age 11, they achieve similar math performance but may focus less on implicit mathematical features.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Preterm birth can impact academic development, particularly mathematical skills in primary school children.
  • Few studies have specifically investigated the effects of very preterm birth on mathematical abilities in primary school settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare mathematical skills and cognitive abilities in 11-year-old children born very preterm versus full-term.
  • To examine if domain-general cognitive abilities explain differences in mathematical skills between groups.
  • To assess early mathematical skills and cognitive abilities at age five retrospectively.

Main Methods:

  • Compared 11-year-old children born very preterm (N=64) and full-term (N=72), with IQ > 70.
  • Assessed spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON), spontaneous focusing on quantitative relations (SFOR), arithmetic fluency, math achievement, number line estimation, rational number magnitude knowledge, motivation, reading, visuospatial processing, executive functions, and naming speed.
  • Conducted retrospective comparisons of early skills at age five.

Main Results:

  • Children born very preterm and full-term differed in arithmetic fluency, SFON, and SFOR.
  • Domain-general cognitive abilities did not fully account for group differences in SFON and SFOR.
  • Significant group differences in early mathematical and cognitive skills were observed at age five, with preterm children showing lower performance.

Conclusions:

  • Despite initial deficits, children born very preterm achieved peer-level performance in many mathematical skills by age 11.
  • Preterm birth is associated with lasting differences in spontaneous focusing on numerical and quantitative aspects.
  • Children born very preterm may be less inclined to focus on implicit mathematical features in daily life.

Keywords:
Mathematical skillsPretermPrimary schoolRational numberSpontaneous focusing on numerositySpontaneous focusing on quantitative relations

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