One size does not fit all
Children born preterm have various profiles of attention skills
A child’s attention is essential for acquiring new skills and knowledge. We know that parents and teachers more frequently report attention difficulties for children born preterm than for children born at term. In assessing attention skills, most previous studies have compared children born preterm as one group to children born at term. We also know that children born preterm are not one uniform group, and that development, as well as neonatal and long-term outcomes differ vastly among children born preterm.
A new study by Lilly Bogičević, Marjolein Verhoeven, and Anneloes van Baar used two different approaches in assessing attention skills of 87 children born preterm and 83 children born at term. A variable-centered approach was used to compare attention skills of children born preterm and children born at term at group-level. A person-centered approach was applied to identify subgroups of children with distinct profiles of attention skills. The variable-centered approach showed that, as one group, children born preterm have more difficulties in some but not all attention skills when compared with children born at term. The person-centered approach revealed one profile of optimal attention skills, and three distinct profiles of suboptimal attention skills: overall poorer attention skills, poorer cognitive attention skills, and behavioral attention problems. Most children at term had an optimal attention profile. Children born preterm showed more variation in attention profiles and were twice as likely to have a suboptimal attention profile, often with difficulties in multiple attention skills.
So children born preterm show differences in the attention difficulties they experience. Monitoring and treatment methods should be tailored to individual needs, because one size does not fit all.
Bogičević, L., Verhoeven, M., van Baar, A. L. (2020). Distinct Profiles of Attention in Children Born Moderate-to-Late Preterm at 6 Years. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa038.