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Published on: August 25, 2014
Longitudinal effects of gestational age on academic performance in children born preterm
Jamie Mahurin-Smith1, Stephen Petrill2
1Illinois State University, United States of America.
Objective:
To investigate longitudinal changes in reading and math performance among children born prematurely.
Study Design:
We evaluated data from across an 8-year period for 768 participants in the Western Reserve Reading and Math Project (WRRMP). We assessed their performance on Woodcock-Johnson math and reading subtests as a function of gestational age and parental education.
Results:
On the reading comprehension, word identification, and applied math subtests, gestational age was associated with performance decrements, while parental education was linked to improved performance.
Conclusions:
Preterm birth continues to predict lower standardized test scores for reading and math across the time period of this longitudinal dataset; higher levels of parent education partially offset these effects.
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