School Readiness in 4-Year-Old Very Preterm Children
H Gerry Taylor1,2, Daphne M Vrantsidis1, Mary Lauren Neel1,2
1Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA.
Insights
Very preterm preschoolers show significant school readiness challenges, particularly in cognitive and motor skills. Targeted interventions are crucial for addressing these specific deficits in very preterm (VPT) children.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Neuroscience
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Very preterm (VPT) birth is associated with increased risks for developmental challenges.
- Understanding specific school readiness deficits in VPT preschoolers is crucial for early intervention.
- Previous research indicates potential cognitive and behavioral difficulties in VPT populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify school readiness aspects distinguishing VPT preschoolers from full-term (FT) controls.
- To determine if VPT readiness problems stem from global cognitive weaknesses or specific deficits.
- To identify distinct profiles of readiness problems in VPT preschoolers.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of 53 VPT (gestational age ≤ 30 weeks) and 38 FT (gestational age ≥ 37 weeks) 4-year-olds.
- Assessment of global cognitive ability, executive function, motor skills, early literacy/numeracy, and psychosocial functioning.
- Latent class analysis (LCA) to identify readiness profiles.
Main Results:
- VPT preschoolers exhibited pronounced difficulties in spatial/nonverbal cognition, executive function, motor skills, phonological processing, and numeracy.
- VPT children also showed sex-related deficits in processing speed, social functioning, and emotion regulation.
- LCA identified four readiness profiles, with most VPT children having cognitive or psychosocial weaknesses, or global problems.
Conclusions:
- VPT preschoolers require comprehensive school readiness evaluations beyond global cognitive assessments.
- Specific deficits in cognitive, motor, and psychosocial domains are evident in VPT children.
- Findings support the development of targeted early educational interventions for VPT populations.
Abstract:
The aims of this study were to identify the aspects of school readiness that best distinguish very preterm (VPT) preschoolers from full-term (FT) controls, determine the extent to which readiness problems in the VPT group reflected global cognitive weaknesses or more specific deficits, and identify distinct profiles of readiness problems. Fifty-three VPT (gestational age ≤ 30 weeks) 4-year-olds were compared to 38 FT (gestational age ≥ 37 weeks) controls on measures of global cognitive ability, executive function, motor skills, early literacy and numeracy, and psychosocial functioning. Latent class analysis (LCA) was also conducted to identify individual readiness profiles. The VPT group had the most pronounced difficulties on tests of spatial and nonverbal cognitive abilities, executive function, motor skills, phonological processing, and numeracy. The VPT group also had sex-related difficulties in processing speed, social functioning, and emotion regulation. These differences were evident in analyses of both continuous scores and rates of deficits. The VPT group's difficulties in motor skills, and VPT females' difficulties in social functioning and emotion regulation, were evident even when controlling for global cognitive ability. LCA suggested four profiles of readiness, with the majority of the VPT group assigned to profiles characterized by relative weaknesses in either cognitive abilities or psychosocial functioning or by more global readiness problems. The findings support the need to evaluate multiple aspects of school readiness in VPT preschoolers and inform efforts to design more targeted early educational interventions.
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