Comparing long-term educational effects of two early childhood health interventions.

We compare the educational effects of two medical protocols that mitigate long-term consequences of prematurity or low birth weight. The two protocols are Traditional Care (TC), which uses incubators, and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) which replaces incubators for 24-hour skin-to-skin contact between newborns and caregivers. We concentrate on educational outcomes addressing contradictory results in previous contributions.

Kangaroo mother care had a protective effect on the volume of brain structures in young adults born preterm.

Aim: The protective effects of Kangaroo mother care (KMC) on the neurodevelopment of preterm infants are well established, but we do not know whether the benefits persist beyond infancy. Our aim was to determine whether providing KMC in infancy affected brain volumes in young adulthood.

Method: Standardised cognitive, memory and motor skills tests were used to determine the brain volumes of 20-year-old adults who had formed part of a randomised controlled trial of KMC versus incubator care.

Impact of maternal prenatal psychological stress on birth weight.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the impact of prenatal maternal stress on birth weight using a large cohort of predominantly White women living in an urban area.

Method: Women were recruited between 2005 and 2010. Data collection took place between the 24th and the 28th week of gestation.

Randomised controlled trial on the impact of kinesthetic stimulation on early somatic growth of preterm infants in Kangaroo position.

Aim: Evaluation of early growth in preterm infants receiving kinesthetic stimulation with massage in Kangaroo position or in incubator.

Methods: A cohort of 66 infants between 30 and 33 weeks of gestational age (GA), born at a university hospital in 2013 in Bogota, were randomised when eligible to intervention. We measured weight gain (g/kg/day) at five days and 15 days postrandomisation and weight at 40 weeks, according to chronological age at randomisation.

Altered transcallosal inhibition evidenced by transcranial magnetic stimulation highlights neurophysiological consequences of premature birth in early adulthood.

Background And Objective: A very preterm birth can induce deleterious neurophysiological consequences beyond childhood; alterations of the corpus callosum (CC) are reported in adolescents born very preterm along with cognitive impairments. The question remains whether neurophysiological alterations are still detectable in adulthood such as an alteration in CC inhibitory function. The aim of the present study was thus to examine transcallosal inhibition in young adults born very preterm compared to counterparts born at term.

The long-term effects of the Kangaroo Mother Care intervention on cognitive functioning: Results from a longitudinal study.

This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) intervention on the intellectual and attentional functioning of young adults born with low birth weight. Three hundred infants were randomly assigned at birth in one of two interventions, KMC or traditional care (TC), and completed cognitive tests at adulthood (19-21 years after recruitment). The main results show that participants with a neurological vulnerability at 6 months had higher IQ and sustained attention scores at adulthood if they had received KMC than if they had received TC.

Cortisol and blood pressure levels decreased in fathers during the first hour of skin-to-skin contact with their premature babies.

Aim: Premature birth is an extremely stressful experience. In 2013 to 2014, we explored the physiological stress responses of fathers during their first skin-to-skin contact (SSC) with their new baby.

Methods: We recruited 49 fathers whose partners had given birth to a premature baby of up to 33 weeks and three days.

Social dominance in children with cerebral palsy during a problem-solving task with peers.

Purpose: Children with cerebral palsy tend to have poorer social competence outcomes than their peers without a disability in mainstream school settings. To understand their social competence, this study compared children with cerebral palsy with paired children without cerebral palsy with respect to their ability to access resources, defined here as "social dominance", in a problem-solving situation.

Method: Children with cerebral palsy were randomly paired to a peer (teammate) and put in a competitive context where each team of two children was instructed to solve an impossible problem.

Twenty-year Follow-up of Kangaroo Mother Care Versus Traditional Care.

Background And Objectives: Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a multifaceted intervention for preterm and low birth weight infants and their parents. Short- and mid-term benefits of KMC on survival, neurodevelopment, breastfeeding, and the quality of mother-infant bonding were documented in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Colombia from 1993 to 1996. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the persistence of these results in young adulthood.

Sociometric status and the attribution of intentions in a sample of adolescents with cerebral palsy.

Purpose To examine how cerebral palsy (CP) and sociometric status at age 10 explain the development of a cognitive bias across two groups of adolescents aged 15. Method Children with CP (N = 60) and without CP (N = 57) are part of a follow-up study. Three categories of sociometric status (popular, average, rejected) were obtained by conducting a class-wide interview in the class of the target children at age 10.

Risk for preterm and very preterm delivery in women who were born preterm.

Objective: To evaluate whether women who themselves were born preterm are at increased risk of preterm delivery and, if so, whether known maternal complications of preterm birth such as hypertension or diabetes explain this risk.

Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study of all women born preterm (51,148) and term (823,991) in Québec, Canada, between 1976 and 1995; after frequency matching 1:2 preterm to term, we examined the relationship of preterm birth between women and their offspring.

Results: The study included 7,405 women who were born preterm (554 before 32 weeks of gestation and 6,851 at 32-36 weeks of gestation) and 16,714 women born term, who delivered 12,248 and 27,879 newborns, respectively.

Pregnancy complications among women born preterm.

Background: Adults who were born with low birth weights are at increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, including pregnancy complications. Low birth weight can result from intrauterine growth restriction, preterm birth or both. We examined the relation between preterm birth and pregnancy complications later in life.

Cerebral motor function in very premature-at-birth adolescents: a brain stimulation exploration of kangaroo mother care effects.

Aim:   Given that prematurity has deleterious effects on brain networking development beyond childhood, the study explored whether an early intervention such as Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) in very preterm preemies could have influenced brain motor function up to adolescence.

Methods:   Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied over the primary motor cortex (M1) of 39 adolescents born very prematurely (<33 weeks' gestational age, 21 having received KMC after birth, 18 Controls with no KMC) and nine adolescents born at term (>37 weeks' gestational age, >2500 g) to assess the functional integrity of motor circuits in each hemisphere (motor planning) and between hemispheres (callosal function).

Results:   All TMS outcomes were similar between KMC and term adolescents, with typical values as in healthy adults, and better than in Controls.

Self-concept in children with cerebral palsy: is there something in the wind?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare self-concept in four groups of children distinguished by the presence/absence of either a motor impairment (with and without cerebral palsy, CP) or social adjustment problems (victimisation).

Method: Four groups were formed: a victimised CP group (n=17), a non-victimised CP group (n=41), a victimised comparison group (n=10) and a non-victimised comparison group (n=46). Self-concept was measured using the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC, Harter The Self-Perception Profile for Children.

Observed behaviours of pre-term children in a social play situation with classroom peers.

Background: A number of studies have reported social adjustment problems in pre-term children.

Objectives: To observe the pre-term's behaviour in an experimental situation and correlate these observed behaviours with the children's peer-rated social behaviours (withdrawal, aggression and sociability/leadership).

Methods: Of 56 pre-term children, 24 were classified as the sick pre-term (SPT) group and 32 children as the healthy pre-term (HPT) group.

Social adjustment at school: Are children with cerebral palsy perceived more negatively by their peers than other at-risk children?

Purpose: To compare three dimensions of social adjustment (social status, friendship and victimization) across four groups of children between the ages of nine and 12 who differ by their birth status (premature vs. at term) and the presence or absence of a motor impairment (with and without cerebral palsy [CP]).

Method: All premature (n = 72) and term children (n = 118) without CP and all children with CP (premature with CP: n = 49; term with CP: n = 29) are part of a follow-up study.

Visuo-motor coordination in 8-year-old children born pre-term before and after 28 weeks of gestation.

Purpose: This study compared the visuo-motor abilities between pre-term and full-term children.

Methods: Twenty-three 8-year-old children participated, five being born under 28 weeks gestational age (wGA) referred to as Preterms1 (mean=8 years 5 months [SD 0.3]), nine Preterms2 of 28-35 wGA (mean=7 years 9 months [SD 0.

The performance profile on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test of a group of children with cerebral palsy aged between 9 and 12.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the performance profile of a group of children with cerebral palsy (CP) on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).

Methods: The sample consisted of 102 children aged between 9-12, divided into two groups: the clinical group consisted of 52 children with in mainstream class (37 with hemiplegia and 15 with diplegia), while the comparison group comprised 50 children matched for class, gender, age and socioeconomic status.

Results: The findings showed that children with CP make more non-perseverative errors, they completed fewer categories, required more trials to complete the first category and gave fewer conceptual responses than control children.

Social adjustment of children with cerebral palsy in mainstream classes: peer perception.

The aim of this study was to describe the social experience of children with cerebral palsy (CP) in mainstream classes in Canada and compare it with that of their classmates without disability. The CP group included 25 females and 35 males (mean age 10 y 5 mo [SD 0.95], range 10 y 4 mo-10 y 10 mo) diagnosed as having hemiplegia (n=44) or diplegia (n=16) and classified as Level I on the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS).

Cognitive and educational outcomes in early adulthood for infants weighing 1000 grams or less at birth.

Aim: To assess the intelligence quotient (IQ) and academic achievement in early adulthood of a cohort of extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW 1000 g) subjects.

Methods: All 82 ELBW survivors consecutively born in or referred to a single tertiary center in 1976-1981 were traced at a mean age of 18 y. Three disabled children had died.

Kangaroo Mother Care: 25 years after.

Unlabelled: The components of the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) intervention, their rational bases, and their current uses in low-, middle-, and high-income countries are described. KMC was started in 1978 in Bogotá (Colombia) in response to overcrowding and insufficient resources in neonatal intensive care units associated with high morbidity and mortality among low-birthweight infants. The intervention consists of continuous skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the infant, exclusive breastfeeding, and early home discharge in the kangaroo position.

Another look inside the gap: ecological contributions to the transmission of attachment in a sample of adolescent mother-infant dyads.

Ecological contributions to attachment transmission were studied in a sample of 64 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were 6 and 10 months old, and infant security was assessed at 15 and 18 months. Maternal attachment state of mind was measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) after the 1st assessment.

Victimization: a newly recognized outcome of prematurity.

Victimization by peers affects 10 to 20% of school children under the age of 12 years. Physical, verbal, and psychological victimization (being pushed, hit, called names, teased, being the target of rumours, theft, extortion) is associated with short- and long-term adjustment problems, such as peer rejection, social withdrawal, low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, and depression, as well as academic problems and school drop-out. Research on populations of school children (primary and secondary) has associated victimization with personal risk factors (the victim's characteristics and behaviour) and interpersonal risk factors (social relationships between peers).