Cognitive Competences in Preterm Infants across the First Year of Life: Assessments of Continuity, Stability, Coherence, Prediction, and Moderation by Infant Age and Country of Origin.
Maria Spinelli, Diane L Putnick, Prachi E Shah, Marc H Bornstein
{"title":"Cognitive Competences in Preterm Infants across the First Year of Life: Assessments of Continuity, Stability, Coherence, Prediction, and Moderation by Infant Age and Country of Origin.","authors":"Maria Spinelli, Diane L Putnick, Prachi E Shah, Marc H Bornstein","doi":"10.1177/01650254241305559","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Understanding of preterm infant cognitive competences across the first year of life is limited regarding the developmental constructs of continuity, stability, coherence, and predictive validity as well as how they manifest by age and country of origin.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>This prospective longitudinal study examined and compared mean-level continuity, individual-differences stability, and associations among several cognitive competences as well as their predictive validity across the first year of life in preterm infants (gestational age range = 26 - 33 weeks) from Chile (<i>n</i> = 47), the United Kingdom (<i>n</i> = 48), and the United States (<i>n</i> = 50).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Multiple cognitive competences (visual acuity measured with the Teller acuity card procedure; information processing duration of visual fixation and novelty preference examined with the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence; Bayley Mental and Psychomotor Indexes) were evaluated at 5 different ages in preterm infants between 2 and 12 months in each country.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The effects of infant age, country, and their interaction were examined. Visual acuity increased over time with different trajectories across countries, whereas duration of visual fixation decreased; both were stable across time. Novelty preference demonstrated continuity, but not stability across time and country. Associations among different cognitive competences varied by country. Across countries, duration of visual fixation predicted the Bayley Mental Development Index, and visual acuity predicted the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>Cognitive competences develop in similar and dissimilar ways across the first year of life in infants born preterm from different countries. Cultural specificities and age variations are discussed. Study findings underscore the necessity to attend to specificities of domain, age, and place when assessing preterm infants' cognitive competences.</p>","PeriodicalId":13880,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Behavioral Development","volume":"49 3","pages":"299-311"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12442789/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Behavioral Development","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254241305559","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/12/19 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Understanding of preterm infant cognitive competences across the first year of life is limited regarding the developmental constructs of continuity, stability, coherence, and predictive validity as well as how they manifest by age and country of origin.
Aims: This prospective longitudinal study examined and compared mean-level continuity, individual-differences stability, and associations among several cognitive competences as well as their predictive validity across the first year of life in preterm infants (gestational age range = 26 - 33 weeks) from Chile (n = 47), the United Kingdom (n = 48), and the United States (n = 50).
Methods: Multiple cognitive competences (visual acuity measured with the Teller acuity card procedure; information processing duration of visual fixation and novelty preference examined with the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence; Bayley Mental and Psychomotor Indexes) were evaluated at 5 different ages in preterm infants between 2 and 12 months in each country.
Results: The effects of infant age, country, and their interaction were examined. Visual acuity increased over time with different trajectories across countries, whereas duration of visual fixation decreased; both were stable across time. Novelty preference demonstrated continuity, but not stability across time and country. Associations among different cognitive competences varied by country. Across countries, duration of visual fixation predicted the Bayley Mental Development Index, and visual acuity predicted the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index.
Conclusions and implications: Cognitive competences develop in similar and dissimilar ways across the first year of life in infants born preterm from different countries. Cultural specificities and age variations are discussed. Study findings underscore the necessity to attend to specificities of domain, age, and place when assessing preterm infants' cognitive competences.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Behavioral Development is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, which exists to promote the discovery, dissemination and application of knowledge about developmental processes at all stages of the life span - infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. The Journal is already the leading international outlet devoted to reporting interdisciplinary research on behavioural development, and has now, in response to the rapidly developing fields of behavioural genetics, neuroscience and developmental psychopathology, expanded its scope to these and other related new domains of scholarship. In this way, it provides a truly world-wide platform for researchers which can facilitate a greater integrated lifespan perspective. In addition to original empirical research, the Journal also publishes theoretical and review papers, methodological papers, and other work of scientific interest that represents a significant advance in the understanding of any aspect of behavioural development. The Journal also publishes papers on behaviour development research within or across particular geographical regions. Papers are therefore considered from a wide range of disciplines, covering all aspects of the lifespan. Articles on topics of eminent current interest, such as research on the later life phases, biological processes in behaviour development, cross-national, and cross-cultural issues, and interdisciplinary research in general, are particularly welcome.