Correlations between early stress experiences and later behavior regulation in premature born toddlers with low and very low birth weight at the age of two years

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Introduction: In a period of rapide brain development, preterm born children have to deal with a great amount of stressful and painful experiences after birth. Studies using animal models have demonstrated the association between adverse experiences and later behavioral problems. By now there is only few evidence showing a direct link between early stressful experiences of the premature baby and the well known developmental and behavioral problems in childhood. The present study examines the correlation between early stress experiences and later behavioral regulation in preterm born children at the age of two, controlling for medical risk and cognitive development. Methods: Data of N=80 preterm born children at the age of two years (birth weight >1500g: N=50; birth weight <1500g: N=30) were collected. The amount of stressful (e.g. stimulation after bradycardia) and painful (e.g. veine puncture) procedures and medical risk were assessed by analyzing charts of the hospital stay following birth. In a laboratory session of 90 minutes, four tasks of inhibitory control (adapted by Kochanska et al., 2000) and the Bayley II (mental scale, MDI), as a measure of cognitive development, were administered. Results and conclusion: Data collection is already finished; data analysis is in progress. It is hypothesized that a greater amount of early stress experiences is linked with lower abilities in behavioral regulation at the age of two years, even when controlling for medical risk and cognitive development. Concerning early stress experiences (qualified for duration of hospital stay), preliminary analysis (N=25) reveals a moderate positive relationship with the two medical risk scores (SNAP II PE: ρ=0.42, p=0.03 and NNBRS: ρ=0.43, p=0.02), as well as a marginally significant negative relationship with the MDI (ρ=–0.37, p=0.07). Results of the whole data set are discussed with regard to the heightened vulnerability of low birth weight preterm born children and the meaning of behavioral control as a basis of successful learning.