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Long-term effects of preterm birth on language and literacy at eight years*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

ANNALISA GUARINI ,
ALESSANDRA SANSAVINI ,
CRISTINA FABBRI ,
SILVIA SAVINI ,
ROSINA ALESSANDRONI ,
GIACOMO FALDELLA  and
ANNETTE KARMILOFF-SMITH
ANNALISA GUARINI*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna
ALESSANDRA SANSAVINI
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna
CRISTINA FABBRI
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna
SILVIA SAVINI
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna
ROSINA ALESSANDRONI
Affiliation:
Institute of Neonatology, University of Bologna
GIACOMO FALDELLA
Affiliation:
Institute of Neonatology, University of Bologna
ANNETTE KARMILOFF-SMITH
Affiliation:
Birkbeck Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, University of London
*
Address for correspondence: A. Guarini, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy. Tel: +39 051 2091875. Fax: +39 051 243086. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The aims of this study were to investigate whether specific linguistic difficulties in preterm children persist at eight years and to examine the interrelationships between language and literacy in this population, compared with a control group of full-term children. Sixty-eight monolingual Italian preterms and 26 chronologically matched controls were recruited. Language (grammar comprehension, lexical production and phonological awareness), literacy (reading comprehension, reading and writing) and general cognitive development were investigated. Results showed no general delay in preterms, but slight difficulties in specific linguistic abilities (grammar, lexicon, phoneme synthesis and deletion of the first syllable), more difficulties in literacy (speed in reading and accuracy in writing) and certain correlations among competencies turning out to be different from the control group. In conclusion, our study established that a partially atypical trajectory emerged in preterms, showing specific long-term effects of preterm birth on language and literacy development.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , September 2010 , pp. 865 - 885
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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Footnotes

[*]

This research was supported by research grants from the University of Bologna (Basic Oriented Research ex 60% 2004, 2005, 2006; University Research Project 2004–2007; Marco Polo fellowship; Strategic Project, 2007–2009, ‘Precoci abilità comunicativo-linguistiche e cognitive: rischi associati alla nascita pretermine’). We would like to thank the children and parents for their participation in the research, and Giulia Aquilano for her help with the medical examination. We are also grateful to the teachers and director of Ferrarin Primary School of Bellaria. We would like to thank Rossella Miglio and Serena Broccoli for their statistical advice. Finally we would like to thank Daniela Brizzolara and Anna Maria Chilosi for their suggestions concerning the tests of lexical production and grammar comprehension, and Paola Bonifacci, Cristina Santinelli and Silvana Contento for the Italian version of the K-BIT.

References

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