SImms_et_al_Pediatric_Research_2013.pdf (467.42 kB)
Download fileMathematics difficulties in extremely preterm children: evidence of a specific deficit in basic mathematics processing
journal contribution
posted on 2013-04-04, 14:27 authored by Victoria Simms, Camilla GilmoreCamilla Gilmore, Lucy Cragg, Neil Marlow, Dieter Wolke, Samantha JohnsonBackground. Extremely preterm (EP, <26 weeks gestation) children have been
observed to have poor academic achievement in comparison to their term-born
peers, especially in mathematics. This study investigated potential underlying causes
of this difficulty.
Methods. 219 extremely preterm participants were compared with 153 term-born
control children at 11 years old. All children were assessed by a psychologist on a
battery of standardised cognitive tests and a number estimation test assessing
children’s numerical representations.
Results. EP children underperformed in all tests in comparison to the term controls
(the majority of p’s<.001). Different underlying relationships between performance on
the number estimation test and mathematical achievement were found in extremely
preterm compared to control children. That is, even after controlling for cognitive
ability, a relationship between number representations and mathematical
performance persisted for EP children only (EP: r= .346, n= 186, p< .001; Control:
r= .095, n=146, p= .256).
Conclusion. Interventions for EP children may target improving children’s numerical
representations in order to subsequently remediate their mathematical skills.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Citation
SIMMS, V. ... et al, 2013. Mathematics difficulties in extremely preterm children: evidence of a specific deficit in basic mathematics processing. Pediatric Research, 73 (2), pp.236-244.Publisher
© Nature Publishing GroupVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2013Notes
This article was published in the journal, Pediatric Research [© Nature Publishing Group] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/pr.2012.157ISSN
0031-3998eISSN
1478-6990Publisher version
Language
- en