Behavior Problems in Relation to Sustained Selective Attention Skills of Moderately Preterm Children

Attention skills may form an important developmental mechanism. A mediation model was examined in which behavioral problems
of moderately preterm and term children at school age are explained by attention performance. Parents and teachers completed
behavioral assessments of 348 moderately preterm children and 182 term children at 8 years of age. Children were administered
a test of sustained selective attention. Preterm birth was associated with more behavioral and attention difficulties. Gestational
age, prenatal maternal smoking, and gender were associated with mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ reports of children’s problem
behavior. Sustained selective attention partially mediated the relationship between birth status and problem behavior. Development
of attention skills should be an important focus for future research in moderately preterm children.