Investigating socio-emotional cognition in late preterm children: A case-control study

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate socio-emotional cognitive competence in late preterm and term born children. Late preterm children (n = 53; 5–10 years) and full-term control children (n = 53; 5–10 years) were evaluated on the four socio-emotional cognitive tests of the Intelligence and Development Scales (IDS): emotion recognition, emotion regulation, social understanding, and social behavioural competence. Compared to full-term children, late preterm children (LPT) performed significantly worse on the emotion recognition and social behavioural competence tasks, but otherwise, no significant differences were found in emotion regulation and social understanding tasks. These findings support the conclusion that late-preterm birth may be associated with negative, but selective, socio-emotional cognitive difficulties. Targeted interventions aimed to limit the incidence of these dysfunctions during childhood could be quite important for LPT children.     

Complementary assessments of executive function in preterm and full-term preschoolers

Executive functions (EFs) are interrelated cognitive processes that have been studied in relation to behavior, attention, academic achievement, and developmental disorders. Studies of EF skills assessed through parent report and performance-based measures show correlations between them ranging from none to modest. Few studies have examined the relationship between EF skills measured through parent report and performance-based measures in relation to adaptive function. The present study included preschool children born preterm as a population at high risk for EF impairments. Preschool children (N = 149) completed a battery of EF tasks that assess working memory, response inhibition, idea generation, and attention shifting or cognitive flexibility. Parents reported on children’s EF and adaptive skills. Preterm children showed more parent-rated and performance-based EF impairments than did full-term children. The combined use of either parent report or performance-based measures resulted in the identification of a large number of children at risk for EF impairment, especially in the preterm group. Both parent report and performance-based EF measures were associated with children’s adaptive function. EF skills are measurable in young child'ren, and we suggest that EF skills may serve as targets for intervention to improve functional outcomes. We recommend the use of both parent report and performance-based measures to characterize children’s EF profiles and to customize treatment.     

Social functioning using direct and indirect measures with children with High Functioning Autism,nonverbal learning disability,and typically developing children

Social perception is an important underlying foundation for emotional development and overall adaptation. The majority of studies with children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) or nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) evaluating social functioning have used measures of parent and/or teacher ratings. The present study utilized parent and teacher ratings of behavior as well as executive functioning in addition to direct measures of social perception. Three groups participated in this study (control [n = 38] HFA [n = 36], NLD [n = 31]). Results indicated that the HFA group experienced the most difficulty understanding emotional cues on the direct measure while both the HFA and NLD groups experienced difficulty with nonverbal cues. Significant difficulties were reported on the parent rating scale for sadness and social withdrawal for both clinical groups. Executive functioning was found to be particularly problematic for the clinical groups. The direct social perception measure was highly correlated with the measures of executive functioning and reflects the contribution that executive functions have on social functioning. These findings suggest that the clinical presentation on behavior rating scales may be very similar for children with HFA and NLD. Moreover, it appears that measures of executive functioning are sensitive to the clinical difficulties these groups experience. The findings also suggest there is a commonality in these disorders that warrants further investigation.     

Impaired prospective memory but intact episodic memory in intellectually average 7- to 9-year-olds born very preterm and/or very low birth weight

Relatively little is known about episodic memory (EM: memory for personally-experienced events) and prospective memory (PM: memory for intended actions) in children born very preterm (VP) or with very low birth weight (VLBW). This study evaluates EM and PM in mainstream-schooled 7- to 9-year-olds born VP (≤ 32 weeks) and/or VLBW (< 1500 g) and matches full-term children for comparison (n = 35 and n = 37, respectively). Additionally, participants were assessed for verbal and non-verbal ability, executive function (EF), and theory of mind (ToM). The results show that the VP/VLBW children were outperformed by the full-term children on the memory tests overall, with a significant univariate group difference in PM. Moreover, within the VP/VLBW group, the measures of PM, verbal ability and working memory all displayed reliable negative correlations with severity of neonatal illness. PM was found to be independent of EM and cognitive functioning, suggesting that this form of memory might constitute a domain of specific vulnerability for VP/VLBW children.     

Assessment of the global intelligence and selective cognitive capacities in preterm 8-year-old children

The aim of this study was to assess various cognitive abilities such as attention, IQ, reasoning, and memory related to academic achievement in 8- and 9-year-old preterm children. A total of 141 children were assessed. The preterm group (=37 weeks) comprised 63 children and was compared to 78 full-term children. Attention was evaluated using the d2 Selective Attention test, and the IQ by the L-M form of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, establishing a profile of abilities: perception, memory, comprehension, reasoning, and verbal fluency. Significant differences in IQ were found between the preterm and full-term children. Of the cognitive abilities assessed, the only significant differences were found in verbal fluency, with preterm boys showing lower verbal fluency scores than full-term children. In conclusion, all preterm groups have attention ability similar to that of full-term children. However, preterm children obtain lower scores in intelligence measures. In addition, preterm boys have verbal fluency difficulties. Taking into account the increase in preterm births, suitable intervention programs must be planned to attend the difficulties found.     

W&O Psychology in Europe

The role of personality traits in the decision to start a business and to maintain it successfully is discussed controversially in entrepreneurship research. Our meta-analysis builds upon and extends earlier meta-analyses by doing a full analysis of personality traits that includes a comparison of different traits from a theoretical perspective and by analysing a full set of personality predictors for both start-up activities as well as success. Theoretically, our article adds to the literature by matching traits to the tasks of entrepreneurs. The results indicate that traits matched to the task of running a business produced higher effect sizes with business creation than traits that were not matched to the task of running an enterprise, corrected r = .247, K = 47, N = 13,280, and corrected r = .124, K = 20, N = 3975, respectively. Moreover, traits matched to the task produced higher correlations with success, corrected r = .250, K = 42, N = 5607, than traits not matched to the task of running a business, corrected r = .028, K = 13, N = 2777. The traits matched to entrepreneurship significantly correlated with entrepreneurial behaviour (business creation, business success) were need for achievement, generalized self-efficacy, innovativeness, stress tolerance, need for autonomy, and proactive personality. These relationships were of moderate size in general and, moreover, heterogeneity suggested that future research should analyse moderator variables.     

From prematurity to parenting stress: The mediating role of perinatal post-traumatic stress disorder

Preterm delivery may lead to the emergence of symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD), which may, in turn, affect the quality of the mother-child relationship. The aim of this study is to shed light on the development of parenting stress in mothers of preterm and full-term children. It is hypothesized that PTSD symptoms mediate the relationship between preterm/full-term birth and the levels of parenting stress. Perinatal PTSD, parenting stress and social support were assessed in 156 mothers of full-term children and 87 mothers of preterm children. Mothers of preterm children experienced more post-traumatic stress and parenting stress than mothers of full-term children. However, the relationship between preterm delivery and subsequent levels of parenting stress was mediated by PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that the maternal perception of childbirth as a traumatic experience and the subsequent development of PTSD symptoms are pivotal in the emergence of parenting stress.     

Mathematics ability and related skills in preschoolers born very preterm

Children born very preterm (VPT) are at risk for academic, behavioral, and/or emotional problems. Mathematics is a particular weakness and better understanding of the relationship between preterm birth and early mathematics ability is needed, particularly as early as possible to aid in early intervention. Preschoolers born VPT (n = 58) and those born full term (FT; n = 29) were administered a large battery of measures within 6 months of beginning kindergarten. A multiple-mediation model was utilized to characterize the difference in skills underlying mathematics ability between groups. Children born VPT performed significantly worse than FT-born children on a measure of mathematics ability as well as full-scale IQ, verbal skills, visual–motor integration, phonological awareness, phonological working memory, motor skills, and executive functioning. Mathematics was significantly correlated with verbal skills, visual–motor integration, phonological processing, and motor skills across both groups. When entered into the mediation model, verbal skills, visual–motor integration, and phonological awareness were significant mediators of the group differences. This analysis provides insights into the pre-academic skills that are weak in preschoolers born VPT and their relationship to mathematics. It is important to identify children who will have difficulties as early as possible, particularly for VPT children who are at higher risk for academic difficulties. Therefore, this model may be used in evaluating VPT children for emerging difficulties as well as an indicator that if other weaknesses are found, an assessment of mathematics should be conducted.     

The Impact of an Operation Purple Camp Intervention on Military Children and Adolescents’ Self-Perception of Social Acceptance,Athletic Competence,and Global Self-Worth

In a pilot study we examined the effect of a one-week Operation Purple Camp intervention with children and adolescents (N = 48) in military families on their self-perception of social acceptance, athletic competence, and global self-worth. Adolescents’ showed significant improvement post-intervention in perceptions of social acceptance (p < .05) and athletic competence (p < .05) while children showed a significant improvement in perception of global self-worth (p < .05). These findings lend support for the effectiveness of this intervention for improving outcomes for children and adolescents in military families.     

Sad and happy emotion discrimination in music by children with cochlear implants

Children using cochlear implants (CIs) develop speech perception but have difficulty perceiving complex acoustic signals. Mode and tempo are the two components used to recognize emotion in music. Based on CI limitations, we hypothesized children using CIs would have impaired perception of mode cues relative to their normal hearing peers and would rely more heavily on tempo cues to distinguish happy from sad music. Study participants were children with 13 right CIs and 3 left CIs (M = 12.7, SD = 2.6 years) and 16 normal hearing peers. Participants judged 96 brief piano excerpts from the classical genre as happy or sad in a forced-choice task. Music was randomly presented with alterations of transposed mode, tempo, or both. When music was presented in original form, children using CIs discriminated between happy and sad music with accuracy well above chance levels (87.5%) but significantly below those with normal hearing (98%). The CI group primarily used tempo cues, whereas normal hearing children relied more on mode cues. Transposing both mode and tempo cues in the same musical excerpt obliterated cues to emotion for both groups. Children using CIs showed significantly slower response times across all conditions. Children using CIs use tempo cues to discriminate happy versus sad music reflecting a very different hearing strategy than their normal hearing peers. Slower reaction times by children using CIs indicate that they found the task more difficult and support the possibility that they require different strategies to process emotion in music than normal.     

Maternal Sensitivity: a Resilience Factor against Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adolescents Born Very Preterm?

Compared with full-terms, preterm individuals are more at risk from infancy to adulthood for developing internalizing symptoms. Early maternal interactive behavior, especially maternal sensitivity, has been found to be a resilience factor in the developmental outcome of preterm children. The present longitudinal study aimed at examining whether early interactive parenting behaviors have a long term impact on the internalizing symptoms of preterm-born young adolescents. A total sample of 36 very preterm and 22 full-term children participated in an 11-year follow-up study. Maternal interactive behavior was assessed during a mother–infant interaction when the infant was 18 months old. At 11 years, internalizing symptoms were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction between groups (preterm/full-term) and maternal sensitivity at 18 months significantly explained CBCL internalizing symptoms at 11 years (β = ?0.526; p < 0.05). Specifically, although prematurity was related to internalizing problems, preterm children with higher maternal sensitivity did not differ from their full-term-born peers on the CBCL internalizing problems domain. These results suggest that maternal sensitivity is a long-term resilience factor preventing the development of internalizing problems at early adolescence in very preterm individuals.     

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) in children with ADHD: An ex-Gaussian analysis

Children with ADHD demonstrate increased frequent “lapses” in performance on tasks in which the stimulus presentation rate is externally controlled, leading to increased variability in response times. It is less clear whether these lapses are also evident during performance on self-paced tasks, e.g., rapid automatized naming (RAN), or whether RAN inter-item pause time variability uniquely predicts reading performance. A total of 80 children aged 9 to 14 years—45 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 35 typically developing (TD) children—completed RAN and reading fluency measures. RAN responses were digitally recorded for analyses. Inter-stimulus pause time distributions (excluding between-row pauses) were analyzed using traditional (mean, standard deviation [SD], coefficient of variation [CV]) and ex-Gaussian (mu, sigma, tau) methods. Children with ADHD were found to be significantly slower than TD children (p < .05) on RAN letter naming mean response time as well as on oral and silent reading fluency. RAN response time distributions were also significantly more variable (SD, tau) in children with ADHD. Hierarchical regression revealed that the exponential component (tau) of the letter-naming response time distribution uniquely predicted reading fluency in children with ADHD (p < .001, ΔR² = .16), even after controlling for IQ, basic reading, ADHD symptom severity and age. The findings suggest that children with ADHD (without word-level reading difficulties) manifest slowed performance on tasks of reading fluency; however, this “slowing” may be due in part to lapses from ongoing performance that can be assessed directly using ex-Gaussian methods that capture excessively long response times.     

The test–retest reliability of the latent construct of executive function depends on whether tasks are represented as formative or reflective indicators

This study investigates the test–retest reliability of a battery of executive function (EF) tasks with a specific interest in testing whether the method that is used to create a battery-wide score would result in differences in the apparent test–retest reliability of children’s performance. A total of 188 4-year-olds completed a battery of computerized EF tasks twice across a period of approximately two weeks. Two different approaches were used to create a score that indexed children’s overall performance on the battery—i.e., (1) the mean score of all completed tasks and (2) a factor score estimate which used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Pearson and intra-class correlations were used to investigate the test–retest reliability of individual EF tasks, as well as an overall battery score. Consistent with previous studies, the test–retest reliability of individual tasks was modest (rs ≈ .60). The test–retest reliability of the overall battery scores differed depending on the scoring approach (r_mean = .72; r_{factor_score} = .99). It is concluded that the children’s performance on individual EF tasks exhibit modest levels of test–retest reliability. This underscores the importance of administering multiple tasks and aggregating performance across these tasks in order to improve precision of measurement. However, the specific strategy that is used has a large impact on the apparent test–retest reliability of the overall score. These results replicate our earlier findings and provide additional cautionary evidence against the routine use of factor analytic approaches for representing individual performance across a battery of EF tasks.     

What do others feel? Cognitive empathy deficits explain the association between callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems among preschool children

Abstract

Callous-unemotional traits (CU) are a risk factor for antisocial behavior, although it is unclear whether deficits in affective or cognitive empathy explain this association. Using a multi-informant approach involving data collection from parents and teachers (N = 167, M age = 4.7 years), the current study aimed to test whether cognitive or affective empathy deficits account for the association between CU traits and antisocial behavior among preschool children. Results revealed that cognitive, but not affective, empathy was associated with both CU and conduct problems, and also mediated the relationship between CU traits and conduct problems. These findings were not replicated for overt and relational aggressive behavior. Our findings suggest that cognitive empathy deficits may be more important than affective empathy in explaining antisocial behavior in preschool children. As a result, interventions aiming to reduce conduct problems early in development may need to target difficulties in understanding what others are thinking or feeling.     

Does preterm birth affect child temperament? A meta-analytic study

The present meta-analytic study was conducted to examine differences in temperament between preterm and full-term children, considering behavior style and psychobiological approaches. Moreover, we explored the potential moderators of the associations between prematurity and temperament. A systematic literature search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL. Twenty-two studies were analyzed. Preterm children showed a higher Activity level as well as lower Attentional Focusing and Attention Span/Persistence, in comparison with their full-term counterparts. Extremely preterm children showed a higher Activity level than other preterm levels. These findings support the conclusion that preterm children present with a less regulated temperament relative to those born full term.     

Conflict Inhibitory Control Facilitates Pretense Quality in Young Preschoolers

The present research explores the role of inhibitory control (IC) in young preschoolers’ pretense ability using an ego depletion paradigm. In Experiment 1 (N = 56), children's pretense ability was assessed either before or after participating in conflict IC or control tasks, and in Experiment 2 (N = 36), pretense ability was measured after children engaged in either conflict or delay IC tasks. In both experiments, pretense scores were significantly higher only after engaging in conflict IC tasks. Further, pretense scores were positively correlated with IC scores when conflict IC was not experienced first. This pattern of results suggests that IC may underlie pretense, and conflict IC can boost the quality of children's subsequent pretending.     

Test of visuospatial construction: Validity evidence in extremely low birth weight and late preterm children at early school age

The Test of Visuospatial Construction (TVSC), a measure of visuoconstruction that does not rely on upper extremity motor response or written production, was administered to extremely low birth weight (ELBW), late preterm (LPT), and term participants at preschool (n = 355) and kindergarten (n = 265) ages. TVSC showed statistically significant weak-to-moderate positive correlations (age 3: r = .118–.303; age 6: r = .138–.348) with Developmental VMI, Differential Ability Scales-II Copying, Matrices, and Pattern Construction subtests, Baron-Hopkins Board Test, and the Purdue Pegboard. One-way ANOVA indicated ELBW performed worse than Term (p = .044) on visuospatial construction at age 3 with a small-to-medium effect size (d = ?0.43). No other statistically significant differences were found at age 3 on the TVSC (ELBW/LPT: p = .608, d = ?0.17; LPT/Term: p = .116, d = ?0.31). At age 6, ELBW participants performed worse than LPT participants (p = .027) and Term participants (p = .012); LPT participants did not differ from Term participants. Small effect sizes at age 3 (ELBW < LPT, d = ?0.17; ELBW < Term, d = ?0.43) were notably larger at age 6 (ELBW < LPT, d = ?0.42; ELBW < Term, d = ?0.53). Important practical differences showing LPT participants performed below Term participants (d = ?0.31) at age 3 were no longer evident at age 6 (d = ?0.097). These findings provide preliminary evidence of TVSC validity supporting its use to detect neuropsychological impairment and to recommend appropriate interventions in young preterm children.     

Evaluation of executive functions in children and adolescents with familial Mediterranean fever

The aim of the present study was to investigate neuropsychological test performance in children and adolescents with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). A total of 88 children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years were included, 52 with FMF and 36 healthy controls. After the participants were administered the Children Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), they completed the battery tests of the Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNSVS), a neurocognitive test battery, via computer. The battery calculates seven domain scores (Memory, Psychomotor Speed, Processing Speed, Reaction Time, Complex Attention, Executive Function, and Cognitive Flexibility) and a summary score (Neurocognition Index [NCI]). A statistically significant difference between the FMF and control groups was found in six out of seven domains, where the scores of the participants with FMF were found to be significantly lower than those of the control participants (p < .05). Although the mean Reaction Time score of the participants with FMF was found to be lower than that of the control participants, the finding was not statistically significant (p > .05). The mean CDI and SCARED scores of the participants with FMF were found to be significantly higher than those of the control participants (p < .05). Low scores in the Processing Speed and Psychomotor Speed domains of the CNSVS were significantly correlated with higher SCARED scores (r = ?.37, p = .01). Impaired cognitive functions should be taken into consideration in children and adolescents with FMF when assessing and managing this population.     

Development and preliminary validation of the Paediatric Awareness Questionnaire for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury

There is a lack of validated measures for assessing self-awareness of deficits after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). The current study aimed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Paediatric Awareness Questionnaire (PAQ), and investigate factors related to self-awareness. The PAQ was administered to 32 children aged 8–16 years with mild to severe TBI (72% male, M age = 11.75, SD = 2.9), their parents, and treating clinicians, and to 32 age- and gender-matched typically developing controls and their parents. Children with TBI and their parents also completed the Knowledge of Injury Checklist (KIC), and parents completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21. The PAQ was found to have fair to excellent (α = .79–.97) internal consistency for all versions across both groups and good concordance between parent and clinician total scores (ICC = .78). There was also evidence of convergent validity between the PAQ and KIC for both child (r = ?.45, p < .05) and parent ratings (r = ?.66, p < .001). Poorer self-awareness was significantly related to younger age at injury for the TBI group and lower parental education for the total sample. ANCOVA identified that children with TBI demonstrated significantly poorer awareness than controls after controlling for parental education. Children with TBI typically overestimated their functioning compared to their parents, whereas typically developing children tended to rate their functioning lower than their parents. These findings provide preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the PAQ for assessing self-awareness after pediatric TBI.     

Early language processing efficiency predicts later receptive vocabulary outcomes in children born preterm

As rates of prematurity continue to rise, identifying which preterm children are at increased risk for learning disabilities is a public health imperative. Identifying continuities between early and later skills in this vulnerable population can also illuminate fundamental neuropsychological processes that support learning in all children. At 18 months adjusted age, we used socioeconomic status (SES), medical variables, parent-reported vocabulary, scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (third edition) language composite, and children’s lexical processing speed in the looking-while-listening (LWL) task as predictor variables in a sample of 30 preterm children. Receptive vocabulary as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (fourth edition) at 36 months was the outcome. Receptive vocabulary was correlated with SES, but uncorrelated with degree of prematurity or a composite of medical risk. Importantly, lexical processing speed was the strongest predictor of receptive vocabulary (r = ?.81), accounting for 30% unique variance. Individual differences in lexical processing efficiency may be able to serve as a marker for information processing skills that are critical for language learning.