Abstract
Different investigations have found that very or extremely (high risk) preterm children show global or specific difficulties in phonological awareness (PA) and reading abilities. Do low risk preterm children, however, exhibit this pattern? Phonological awareness has been considered an important predictor of literacy. Certain executive functions (EFs), and language abilities in turn, have been found to predict PA. The aims of this study are (1) to compare reading abilities of low risk preterm children of different gestational age (GA) groups to those of full-term children, (2) to compare the performance of low risk preterm children of different GA groups to that of full-term children in different EFs, language measures and PA, and (3) to perform a path analysis in order to test a longitudinal model of the relationships between EFs, language abilities, PA and reading. The participants were 108 low risk 4- year-old preterm children, classified into 3 groups of different GAs, and 34 full-term children. The children’s EFs (rapid automatized naming task (RAN), working memory, and inhibition) were assessed at 4 and 5 years of age. Vocabulary comprehension, morphosyntactic production and grammar reception were assessed when the children were 5 years of age, as well as phonemic awareness and syllabic awareness. Finally, reading abilities were assessed when the children were 9 years old. No significant difference between gestational age groups was found on any of the measures taken on EFs, language abilities, phonological awareness, or reading abilities. The path analysis model demonstrates the direct effect of working memory, certain linguistic skills governed by rules (grammar, morphology) and phonological awareness on reading abilities at 9 years of age. The model also shows the mediating role that PA has on the relationship between EFs and language abilities with reading abilities.
Highlights
The main aim of this study is to analyze those factors which predict reading ability in a group of healthy preterm children and a group of full-term children through a path analysis as well as the mediating effect of phonological awareness (PA) in those relationships
Most studies on reading abilities in preterm children (PT) were carried out with very preterm (VPT) or extremely preterm (EPT) children, and the results indicate that school-aged PT children obtain significantly lower results than full-term children (FT) in decoding abilities (Anderson et al, 2003; Johnson et al, 2012, 2016; Taylor et al, 2016; Alanko et al, 2017; Guarini et al, 2019), reading comprehension (Lee et al, 2011) or in both decoding abilities and reading comprehension (Pritchard et al, 2009, 2014; Johnson et al, 2011; Leijon et al, 2016, 2018)
In order to delve into the specificities of the development of children born prematurely, preterm children were categorized into three different groups according to their weeks of gestation (i.e., < 32 weeks, 32-33 weeks, and 34-36 weeks), whereas the full-term children correspond to the gestation group of more than 36 weeks
Summary
The main aim of this study is to analyze those factors which predict reading ability in a group of healthy preterm children and a group of full-term children through a path analysis as well as the mediating effect of phonological awareness (PA) in those relationships. Reading abilities have aroused great interest in the scientific community, and the identification of those factors which predict the acquisition of reading competence. This identification can have important consequences for the promotion of reading ability, which is of crucial importance for children’s educational development. RAN is the ability to quickly name aloud series of familiar letters, numbers, colors, or objects, which is related to speed processing, sustained attention and response inhibition, and lexical retrieval
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