Browsing by Author "Fagerlund, Hanne"

Objectives. Late-preterm birth (34+0-36+6 weeks' gestation) has been associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes in executive functioning during early childhood. There is still little knowledge of long-term disadvantages associated with late-preterm birth. A majority of infants born late-preterm are also born with intrauterine growth restriction, which has been shown to increase risk of adverse outcomes in executive functioning in childhood and also in early adulthood. Although these factors have similar adverse effects in executive functions during childhood, there is little research of their possible additive effects. Previous studies have also used mainly performance-based methods to measure executive functions, which places doubts on ecological validity of previous results. The aim of this study is to examine whether late-preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction or their additive effects are connected to self-rated executive functioning in early adulthood. Methods. The study sample comprised 2193 regionally sampled infants, who were born 1985-1986 and participated in the Arvo Ylppö Longitudinal Study (AYLS). Basic measures from peri- and neonatal periods were extracted from maternity hospital records and maternal interviews. Intrauterine growth restriction was estimated with being born small for gestational age (SGA). The participants' gestational age was reliably specified and they filled in the standardized and self-report based Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning- Adult Version (BRIEF-A) at age of 24-26 years. The final sample comprised 634 participants, of whom 88 were born late-preterm and 37 were born SGA. The effects of late-preterm and SGA birth to self-reported executive functioning in early adulthood were analyzed using multiple-hierarchical-linear-regression, controlling for multiple confounders. The additive effects were analyzed with multiple MANOVA. Results and conclusions. Late-preterm birth and additive effects of late-preterm birth and SGA were not associated with adverse effects in self-rated executive functioning in adulthood, although negative trend was found. SGA was significantly associated with fewer adversities in self rated executive functioning. The systematic loss found in the study sample and the possibly positively skewed views of SGA adults may have affected found connections. Therefore, more research is needed from effects of late-preterm birth and SGA on executive functioning in adulthood.