ABSTRACT
Why do many preterm children show delays in development? An integrated model of biological risk, children's capacities, and maternal stimulation was investigated in relation to cognitive functioning at toddler age. Participants were 200 Dutch children (gestational age = 32-41 weeks); 51% boys, 96% Dutch nationality, 71.5% highly educated mothers. At 18 months, attention capacities were measured using eye-tracking, and maternal attention-directing behavior was observed. Cognitive functioning was measured at 24 months using the Bayley-III-NL. Cognitive functioning was directly predicted by children's attention capacities and maternal attention-maintaining behavior. Gestational age was indirectly related to cognitive functioning through children's attention capacities and through maternal attention-redirecting behavior. In this way, a combination of gestational age, children's attention capacities, and maternal stimulation was associated with early cognitive development. (PsycINFO Database Record
Subject(s)
Attention , Cognition , Infant, Premature/psychology , Maternal Behavior/psychology , Child, Preschool , Developmental Disabilities/psychology , Executive Function , Female , Humans , Infant , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Models, Psychological , Mother-Child Relations , Mothers/psychology , Psychological Tests , Psychology, ChildABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) and enteroviruses (EVs) belong to the family Picornaviridae. EVs are known to cause a wide range of disease such as meningitis, encephalitis, and sepsis. HPeV1 and 2 have been associated with mild gastrointestinal or respiratory symptoms in young children. HPeV3 is associated with more severe neonatal infection. Little is known about the epidemiology and pathology of HPeV4-6 in children. METHODS: We evaluated the clinical symptoms of the children with an HPeV 4, 5, or 6 infection. The patients with positive HPeV4-6 in stool samples were selected and available plasma or cerebrospinal fluid samples from these patients were tested for HPeV. Data on clinical symptoms, diagnosis, presence and duration of fever, medical history, mean age, use of antibiotics of the children infected with HPeV4-6 were retrospectively documented. RESULTS: HPeV4-6 were found in 31 of the 277 HPeV positive children (11%). Coinfection with EV was seen in 8 patients. Fever was seen in 13 (42%) patients. Of the HPeV4-6 positive patients, 20 of the 31 children (64%) presented with gastrointestinal complaints and 18 of 31 (58%) patients had respiratory symptoms. The mean age was 14 months, 58% of the patients had an underlying disorder such as bronchomalacia or a cardiac disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic HPeV4-6 infections are seen in relative young children and are associated with respiratory and/or gastrointestinal symptoms. HPeV type 4 was detected more frequently than HPeV types 5 and 6.
