Executive function training in very preterm children: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective of the current study was to assess whether game-formatted executive function (EF) training, is effective in improving attention, EF and academic performance in very preterm and/or extremely low birthweight children aged 8-12 years. A multi-center, double-blind, placebo- and waitlist controlled randomized trial (NTR5365) in two academic hospitals in The Netherlands was performed. Eighty-five very preterm children with parent-rated attention problems on the Child Behavior Checklist were randomized to one of three treatment conditions: EF training, placebo training or waitlist condition.

Attentional Flexibility Predicts A-Not-B Task Performance in 14-Month-Old-Infants: A Head-Mounted Eye Tracking Study.

Early individual differences in executive functions (EFs) are predictive of a range of developmental outcomes. However, despite the importance of EFs, little is known about the processes underlying these early individual differences. Therefore, we investigated the association between 14-month-old infants' attention on a reaching version of the A-not-B task and task success.

Subtypes of behavioral functioning in 8-12 year old very preterm children.

Background: Very preterm children often have difficulties in behavioral functioning, but there is large heterogeneity in the severity of these difficulties and in the combination of the difficulties observed. Few studies so far addressed this heterogeneity by examining whether more homogeneous subtypes of behavioral functioning can be identified.

Aims: To identify behavioral subtypes in a group of very preterm children, examine whether such subtypes are related to neonatal medical complications and/or parental education level (to better understand origins) and to examine whether such subtypes are associated with IQ and neurocognitive deficits in attention and executive function (to study underlying mechanisms of dysfunction).

Effects of Executive Function Training on Attentional, Behavioral and Emotional Functioning and Self-Perceived Competence in Very Preterm Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Very preterm children have poorer attentional, behavioral and emotional functioning than term-born children. Problems on these domains have been linked to poorer executive function (EF). This study examined effects of a game-formatted, comprehensive EF training on attentional, behavioral and emotional functioning and self-perceived competence in very preterm children.

Developmental outcomes of very preterm children with high parental education level.

Background: Compared to their term-born peers, children born very preterm are at risk for poorer cognitive, academic and behavioral outcomes, however this finding may have been confounded by lower parental education level in the very preterm children. Studies that compare very preterm and term-born children with comparable (high) parental education level are needed to assess the true effect of very preterm birth on outcomes.

Aims: To compare cognitive, academic and behavioral functioning in very preterm and term-born children of highly educated parents.

Executive function deficits in children born preterm or at low birthweight: a meta-analysis.

Aim: To investigate the magnitude of executive function deficits and their dependency on gestational age, sex, age at assessment, and year of birth for children born preterm and/or at low birthweight.

Method: PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, and ERIC were searched for studies reporting on executive functions in children born preterm/low birthweight and term controls born in 1990 and later, assessed at a mean age of 4 years or higher. Studies were included if five or more studies reported on the same executive function measures.