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Assessing Behavioral Disorders with SDQ in Very Preterm Children at 5 Years of Age in LIFT Cohort
Marine Robert de Saint Vincent1,2, Valérie Rouger2,3, Jean Christophe Rozé1,2,3
1Department of Neonatal Medicine, University Hospital of Nantes, 44000 Nantes, France.
Insights
Parental Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) identify behavioral issues in preterm children. Even borderline scores indicate potential problems, warranting attention for early intervention and improved school adaptation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychiatry
Background:
- Preterm-born children face elevated risks for behavioral disorders.
- Accurate assessment of these disorders is challenging, with questions about parent questionnaire reliability.
- Understanding real-world behavior in preterm children is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the link between parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores and teacher-reported behavioral difficulties in preterm children.
- To determine if SDQ scores correlate with school adaptation in this population.
Main Methods:
- Included children born before 33 weeks gestation followed by the LIFT network.
- Administered the SDQ at 5 years, categorizing children into "normal," "borderline," and "abnormal" groups.
- Compared SDQ results with the Global School Adaptation Score (GSA) at 5 years.
Main Results:
- Analyzed 1397 questionnaires from 1825 children; 11.1% had abnormal and 9.7% borderline SDQ scores.
- Male gender and lower birth weight z-scores were linked to abnormal SDQ scores.
- Abnormal and borderline SDQ scores significantly correlated with global school adaptation difficulties (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Abnormal and borderline SDQ scores in preterm children are associated with classroom behavioral difficulties.
- Clinicians should be vigilant for even borderline SDQ scores in preterm populations.
- Early identification and intervention are key for improving school adaptation in preterm children.
Background:
Preterm-born children are at risk of behavioral disorders and the systematic assessment of these disorders remains a challenge. Questions remain about the accuracy of self-reported parent questionnaires and the real everyday life behavior of the child.
Aim:
To evaluate the association between SDQ reported by parents in the preterm and behavioral difficulties in the everyday school life environment reported by teacher.
Methods:
All children born before 33 weeks and who followed-up in the LIFT (Loire Infant Follow-up team) network were included. The Strengths and Difficulties Parental Questionnaire (SDQ), completed at 5 years, was used to check for behavioral difficulties and identified three groups: "normal", "borderline" and "abnormal". Then, the SDQ results were compared to the Global School Adaptation Score (GSA) at 5 years.
Results:
Out of the 1825 children followed in the cohort at the age of 5, 1397 questionnaires were analyzed. A total of 11.1% of children had an abnormal score, and 9.7% had a borderline score. Male gender and a lower birth weight z-score were significantly associated with the "abnormal SDQ" group. There is a significant relationship between the probability of being in the "abnormal SDQ" group at 5 years and with difficulty in global school adaptation at 5 years, as well as an SDQ borderline score in the preterm (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
SDQ abnormal and borderline scores are associated with behavioral difficulties in the classroom and everyday life behavior. In preterm children, one should be alerted even by a borderline SDQ score.
