Pinpointing the Preterm Behavioural Phenotype in School-Aged Children Without Major Impairments: A Multi-Informant Approach Combining the Perspectives of Child, Parent and Clinician.
Preterm young learners without major diagnoses still show higher anxiety, attention, and social issues—so screen all preterm kids, not just those with clear delays.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team studied young learners born very preterm but without autism or major delays.
They asked the kids, parents, and clinicians to rate anxiety, attention, and social skills.
Then they compared these scores to same-age kids born full-term.
What they found
Preterm kids scored higher on anxiety, attention trouble, and social problems.
The gaps were small but clear across all three raters.
This shows a quiet but real preterm behavioral pattern even when big delays are absent.
How this fits with other research
Griffith et al. (2012) saw the same link between attention and behavior in moderately preterm young learners.
Kuang et al. (2025) pushed the timeline back, using baby BSID scores to predict later autism risk.
Maya et al. (2023) looked at extremely preterm kids who already have autism; Tang et al. (2025) shows the same group also carries subtle traits when autism is not present.
Together, these papers trace one story: preterm birth sets up a risk pathway that starts in infancy and shows up as attention, anxiety, or social issues years later.
Why it matters
If you work with school-age kids born early, screen for anxiety, attention, and social bumps even when they look typical. Quick checklists from child, parent, and teacher can catch the pattern early and guide small supports before problems grow.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Whilst the survival rate of preterm (PT) children has increased significantly, the number of neurodevelopmental problems and behavioural difficulties throughout the lifespan has also risen, especially in those born very or extremely PT. These vulnerabilities can lead to certain psychopathologies, though there is also evidence for a specific subclinical and more subtle behavioural pattern in PTs. Our aim is to pinpoint important vulnerabilities of PT children and to further investigate this "preterm behavioural phenotype". METHODS: We investigated a group of thirty-nine school-aged very and extremely PT children without major neurological impairments or a formal autism diagnosis, and we compared them to a cohort of thirty-eight age- and sex-matched full-term (FT) controls. Autism-related difficulties in social functioning and repetitive behaviours, as well as behavioural problems, anxiety, and attachment, were assessed through self-reports from the child and/or informant reports from the parent(s) and clinicians, with informant sources varying across assessments. RESULTS: Compared to FT peers, PT children displayed significantly increased anxiety, attention problems and autism-related social difficulties. No significant group differences were evident in terms of autism-related restricted/repetitive behaviours or self-reports of peer and parental attachment. CONCLUSION: Even in a PT population without major neurological impairments or a clinical diagnosis of autism, important clinical-behavioural differences were evident in line with a preterm behavioural phenotype. Thus, delineating this subclinical PT pattern can be of relevance to recognize and validate meaningful difficulties experienced by these children that fail to reach the clinical threshold but could still benefit from certain interventions.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.3390/medicina60061014