Early psychological development of very preterm and/or low birth weight children: a review of the literature

Abstract

Objective – The aim of this paper is to describe the psychological development in three areas (cognitive, communicative-linguistic and social-emotional domains) of very preterm children and/or low birth weight, aged from 0 to 6 years, to discover if problems exist and if these difficulties remain, decrease or increase over time, up to 6 years of age, through of review of studies done in this population.

Materials and methods – Seven databases were searched. The search yielded 975 studies and those related to cognitive, communicative-linguistic and social-emotional development in children without physical problems, ranging in age from birth to 6 years, gestational age less than 32 weeks and/or birth-weight less than 2499 grams were analyzed. Most of the 47 studies analyzed were conducted after 2005, focused on children aged 3-5 years, and compared preterm and full-term infants.

Results – The studies agree that preterm children differ in many developmental domains but there is no consensus on others. Several studies found a close association between the three different areas analyzed.

Conclusion – Early intervention of preterm and/or low birth weight children is the most important way to prevent and/or reduce academic, communicative and social-emotional (anxiety/depression) problems, and improve long-term adaptation to the environment, self-regulation, communication skills, social competence and academic performance in general.