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Uneven Linguistic Outcome in Extremely Preterm Children

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Abstract

One primary problem in extremely preterm children is the occurrence of atypical language development. The aim of this study was to explore the components of language (articulatory phonetics, lexicon and syntax) in comprehension and production in extremely preterm children between the 4th and 5th year of age. The language section of the Preschool Neuropsychological Test was administered to 20 extremely preterm monolingual Italian children (GA < 28 weeks) and to a control sample of 40 full term children (GA > 37 weeks), matched for age and non-verbal IQ. Language comprehension was fully efficient in all of the components that we assessed. In the tasks of language production the clinical sample fared much worse than their age and IQ matched controls and the differences were highly significant (p < .001). Language acquisition in extremely preterm children may follow uneven developmental trajectories: language comprehension can be spared in the face of a selective impairment of language production at the level of articulatory phonetics and syntax.

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Author notes

  1. P. De Stefano

    Present address: Neurology Unit, University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Geneva, Switzerland

  2. M. Marchignoli

    Present address: Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, AUSL Parma, Sud-East District, Fidenza, Italy

  3. G. Cossu

    Present address: Unit of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation for Children, Phoniatric Medical Center, Padua, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    P. De Stefano & G. Cossu

  2. Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Medicine and Surgery Department, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    M. Marchignoli, F. Pisani & G. Cossu

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  1. P. De Stefano
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Correspondence to P. De Stefano.

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De Stefano, P., Marchignoli, M., Pisani, F. et al. Uneven Linguistic Outcome in Extremely Preterm Children. J Psycholinguist Res 48, 1363–1375 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09662-x

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