a Children's University Hospital, Division of Neuropaediatrics, Development and Rehabilitation , Bern , Switzerland.
Child Neuropsychol. 2014 Mar;20(2):129-44. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2013.773968. Epub 2013 Mar 4.
This study investigated whether children aged between 8 and 12 years born very preterm (VPT) and/or at very low birth weight (VLBW) performed lower than same-aged term-born controls in cognitive and behavioral aspects of three executive functions: inhibition, working memory, and shifting. Special attention was given to sex differences. Fifty-two VPT/VLBW children (26 girls, 50%) born in the cohort of 1998-2003 and 36 same-aged term-born children (18 girls, 50%) were recruited. As cognitive measures, children completed tasks of inhibition (Color-Word Interference Test, D-KEFS; Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001), working memory (digit span backwards, HAWIK-IV; Petermann & Petermann, 2008), and shifting (Trail Making Test, number-letter-switching, D-KEFS; Delis et al., 2001). As behavioral measures, mothers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000). Scales of interest were inhibit, working memory, and shift. Analyses of the cognitive aspects of executive functions revealed that VPT/VLBW children performed significantly lower than controls in the shifting task but not in the working memory and inhibition tasks. Analyses of behavioral aspects of executive functions revealed that VPT/VLBW children displayed more problems than the controls in working memory in everyday life but not in inhibition and shifting. No sex differences could be detected either in cognitive or behavioral aspects of executive functions. To conclude, cognitive and behavioral measures of executive functions were not congruent in VPT/VLBW children. In clinical practice, the combination of cognitive and behavioral instruments is required to disclose children's executive difficulties.
本研究旨在调查 8 至 12 岁的极早产儿（VPT）和/或极低出生体重儿（VLBW）在三个执行功能的认知和行为方面的抑制、工作记忆和转换能力是否低于同龄足月出生的对照组。特别关注了性别差异。我们招募了 1998-2003 年出生队列中的 52 名 VPT/VLBW 儿童（26 名女孩，50%）和 36 名同龄足月出生的儿童（18 名女孩，50%）。作为认知测试，孩子们完成了抑制（颜色-单词干扰测试，D-KEFS；Delis、Kaplan 和 Kramer，2001）、工作记忆（倒背数字广度，HAWIK-IV；Petermann 和 Petermann，2008）和转换（Trail Making Test，数字-字母转换，D-KEFS；Delis 等人，2001）任务。作为行为测试，母亲们完成了行为评定量表的执行功能（BRIEF；Gioia、Isquith、Guy 和 Kenworthy，2000）。感兴趣的量表是抑制、工作记忆和转换。执行功能的认知方面的分析表明，VPT/VLBW 儿童在转换任务中的表现明显低于对照组，但在工作记忆和抑制任务中则没有。执行功能的行为方面的分析表明，VPT/VLBW 儿童在日常生活中的工作记忆方面表现出比对照组更多的问题，但在抑制和转换方面则没有。在认知或行为方面的执行功能方面都没有发现性别差异。总之，VPT/VLBW 儿童的认知和行为执行功能测试结果并不一致。在临床实践中，需要结合认知和行为工具来揭示儿童的执行困难。
