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Preterm birth and educational disadvantage: Heterogeneous effects

Anna Baranowska-Rataj1, Kieron Barclay2,3,4, Joan Costa-Font3

  • 1Umeå University.

Population Studies
|June 7, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Preterm birth impacts later school performance, especially for extremely preterm infants. However, children born moderately preterm show no ill effects on academic achievement.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Educational Research

Background:

  • Preterm birth is a significant cause of infant mortality and morbidity.
  • Long-term consequences of prematurity on later life outcomes, particularly academic achievement, are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between preterm birth and school grades at age 16.
  • To examine the influence of prematurity degree and school district characteristics on academic outcomes.
  • To assess the role of family socio-economic resources in mitigating potential negative effects of preterm birth.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized Swedish population registers for cohorts born between 1982 and 1994 (N=1,087,750).
  • Employed sibling fixed effects models to control for unobserved familial factors.
  • Analyzed the impact of varying degrees of prematurity and school district quality.

Main Results:

  • Significant negative effects of preterm birth on school grades were primarily observed in extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks).
  • Moderately preterm infants (32-<37 weeks) showed no discernible negative academic impact.
  • Parental socio-economic resources did not moderate the effects of preterm birth on grades.
  • Extremely preterm children in high-performing school districts achieved grades comparable to full-term children in average districts.

Conclusions:

  • The academic consequences of preterm birth are concentrated among the most extremely preterm infants.
  • Environmental factors, such as school district quality, may play a crucial role in academic attainment for extremely preterm children.
  • Interventions and support systems should focus on the most vulnerable preterm populations and consider the impact of educational environments.

Keywords:
educational disadvantagegestational ageparental effectspremature birthsregister-based researchschool districtssibling models

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