Social competence of preschool children born very preterm.

Background: Relatively little is known about the early social development of children born very preterm despite clear suggestions of later interpersonal difficulties.

Aims: To compare the social competence of very preterm (VPT) and full term (FT) born children at age 4 and identify infant, social and family factors associated with later risk.

Study Design: Prospective longitudinal study.

High prevalence/low severity language delay in preschool children born very preterm.

Objective: To examine the language development at corrected age 4 years of a regionally representative cohort of children born very preterm (VPT). Of particular interest was the identification of biological and socioenvironmental risk and protective factors that influence VPT children's early language development.

Method: Data were collected as part of a prospective longitudinal study of 110 VPT (VPT: ≤ 33 weeks gestation) and 113 full-term children (full term: 37-41 weeks gestation) born in Canterbury, New Zealand from 1998 to 2000.

Early school-based learning difficulties in children born very preterm.

Background: Educational underachievement is a major morbidity associated with very preterm (VPT) birth. However, few studies have examined early school outcomes with most employing global, clinic based measures.

Objective: To examine the early school achievement in a cohort of children born VPT and studied to age 6 years.

Early delayed language development in very preterm infants: evidence from the MacArthur-Bates CDI.

This study examined the effects of being born very preterm on children's early language development using prospective longitudinal data from a representative regional cohort of 90 children born very preterm (gestational age <33 weeks and/or birth weight <1,500 grams) and a comparison sample of 102 children born full term (gestational age 38-41 weeks). The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (CDI-WS) was used to assess children's language development at age 2;0 (corrected for gestational age at birth). Clear linear relationships were found between gestational age at birth and later language outcomes, with decreasing gestational age being associated with poorer parent-reported language skills.