Dataset Information

Is association of preterm birth with cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and ADHD symptoms consistent with a causal inference or due to familial confounds?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Preterm birth is associated with an increased risk for cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether the associations are due to the preterm birth insult per se, or due to other risk factors that characterise families with preterm-born children, is largely unknown.

Methods

We employed a within-sibling comparison design, using cognitive-performance and event-related potential (ERP) measures from 104 preterm-born adolescents and 104 of their term-born siblings. Analyses focused on ADHD symptoms and cognitive and ERP measures from a cued continuous performance test, an arrow flanker task and a reaction time task.

Results

Within-sibling analyses showed that preterm birth was significantly associated with increased ADHD symptoms (? = 0.32, p = 0.01, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.58) and specific cognitive-ERP impairments, such as IQ (? = -0.20, p = 0.02, 95% CI -0.40 to -0.01), preparation-vigilance measures and measures of error processing (ranging from ? = 0.71, -0.35). There was a negligible within-sibling association between preterm birth with executive control measures of inhibition (NoGo-P3, ? = -0.07, p = 0.45, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.15) or verbal working memory (digit span backward, ? = -0.05, p = 0.63, 95% CI -0.30 to 0.18).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the relationship between preterm birth with ADHD symptoms and specific cognitive-neurophysiological impairments (IQ, preparation-vigilance and error processing) is independent of family-level risk and consistent with a causal inference. In contrast, our results suggest that previously observed associations between preterm birth with executive control processes of inhibition and working memory are instead linked to background characteristics of families with a preterm-born child rather than preterm birth insult per se. These findings suggest that interventions need to target both preterm-birth specific and family-level risk factors.

SUBMITTER: James SN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7322548 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Is association of preterm birth with cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and ADHD symptoms consistent with a causal inference or due to familial confounds?

James Sarah-Naomi SN Rommel Anna-Sophie AS Rijsdijk Fruhling F Michelini Giorgia G McLoughlin Gráinne G Brandeis Daniel D Banaschewski Tobias T Asherson Philip P Kuntsi Jonna J

Psychological medicine 20190603 8

<h4>Background</h4>Preterm birth is associated with an increased risk for cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether the associations are due to the preterm birth insult per se, or due to other risk factors that characterise families with preterm-born children, is largely unknown.<h4>Methods</h4>We employed a within-sibling comparison design, using cognitive-performance and event-related potential (ERP) measures from 104 preterm-born ado ...[more]

PMID: 31155011

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Project description:ObjectivePreterm birth has been associated with an increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-like symptoms and cognitive impairments similar to those seen in ADHD, including attention and inhibitory control difficulties. Yet data on direct comparisons across ADHD and preterm birth on cognitive-neurophysiological measures are limited.MethodWe directly compared 186 preterm-born adolescents to 69 term-born adolescents with ADHD and 135 term-born controls on cognitive-performance and event-related potential measures associated with attentional and inhibitory processing from a cued continuous performance test (CPT-OX), which we have previously shown to discriminate between the adolescents with ADHD and controls. We aimed to elucidate whether the ADHD-like symptoms and cognitive impairments in preterm-born individuals reflect identical cognitive-neurophysiological impairments in term-born individuals with ADHD.ResultsGo-P3 amplitude was reduced, reflecting impaired executive response control, in preterm-born adolescents compared to both controls and adolescents with ADHD. Moreover, in preterm-born adolescents, as in term-born adolescents with ADHD, contingent negative variation amplitude was attenuated, reflecting impairments in response preparation compared to controls. Although the ADHD group showed significantly increased NoGo-P3 amplitude at FCz compared to preterm group, at Cz preterm-born adolescents demonstrated significantly decreased NoGo-P3 amplitude compared to the control group, similar to term-born adolescents with ADHD.ConclusionThese findings indicate impairments in response preparation, executive response control, and response inhibition in preterm-born adolescents. Although the response preparation and response inhibition impairments found in preterm-born adolescents overlap with those found in term-born adolescents with ADHD, the preterm group also shows unique impairments, suggesting more wide-ranging impairments in the preterm group compared to the ADHD group.

Dataset Information

Is association of preterm birth with cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and ADHD symptoms consistent with a causal inference or due to familial confounds?

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Is association of preterm birth with cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and ADHD symptoms consistent with a causal inference or due to familial confounds?

Similar Datasets

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