Phonology, lexicon and grammar in very preterm children at 5 years

Background. Very preterm birth affects language development. Recent studies have highlighted that these difficulties concern acquisition and consolidation of both lexical skills and grammar, leaving open questions about differences in receptive and expressive skills. By contrast, very few studies have analysed phonological skills at the end of preschool age. Aims. To compare phonological, lexical and grammar skills of very preterm children (gestational age <32 weeks) with those of typically developing children at age 5, investigating potential differences in receptive and expressive skills, assessing whether difficulties are specific or related to non-verbal cognitive development, and analysing relationships among language skills. Method. One hundred and six monolingual Italian children were assessed at age 5 (29 very preterm children compared to 77 typically developing children) through a standardized battery of language (BVL 4-12, Marini et al., in press) and Raven’s coloured progressive matrices (CMP, Raven, 1947). Results. Very preterm children showed difficulties in verbal auditory discrimination and lexical skills (both lexical comprehension and naming) at age 5. Difficulties in receptive and expressive lexicon persisted when controlling for non-verbal cognitive development. The analysis of partial correlations showed similar patterns of relationships in preterm and typically developing children with a slight difference in the magnitude. Conclusions. The present study highlights the importance of analysing both receptive and expressive language skills at the end of preschool in children born preterm, providing valuable insights for planning effective and targeted follow-up for very preterm children.