Prematuridade e desenvolvimento

: competências pré-académicas num grupo de crianças nascidas prematuramente

Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute towards a project included in the line of research related to Trajectories and Development. It is a longitudinal study involving children born prematurely. Prematurity can be reflected in children’s overall development. The goal of these studies is to monitor and understand what risk prematurity may pose for these children throughout their development trajectories. Our study focuses on understanding the impact that prematurity may have on acquiring pre-academic competencies among a group of premature children going into the 1st year of elementary school in the coming academic year. In order to reach this objective, we apply the Missouri Kindergarten Inventory of Developmental Skills (KIDS) and relate the results to data on the children’s clinical history, development and family, namely: gestational age, birth weight, length of time spent in hospital (biological factors); parents’ level of education/profession and pre-school attendance (environmental factors), thus exploring the impact that these two types of factors might have on the development trajectory of these children. Since these children have been monitored longitudinally, we also consider the first developmental profile obtained through the Griffiths Mental Development Scale applied at the ages of 3 and 4 and we correlate the results obtained with the overall results obtained from the KIDS. The data was collected from a sample of 19 children born prematurely in 2007 and who are expected to begin compulsory education in the coming academic year (2013/2014). The main results show that the variables baby’s gestational age, mother’s qualifications and father’s profession are associated with the values obtained in some KIDS scales, which to some extent reflects the importance of environmental factors as opposed to the biological factors studied. By correlating the Griffiths Scale with the KIDS, we are able to reflect upon the development trajectory of the premature child, and the impact that factors of an environmental nature may have. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

Date of Award	8 Jul 2013
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Elisa Veiga (Supervisor)