Early cognitive and behavioral predictors of later performance: a follow-up study of ELBW children from ages 2 to 4

The aim of this study was to examine whether behavioral style and cognitive performance predict cognitive development in ELBW children. The children were assessed at age 2 (40 girls, 41 boys) with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. At age 4 they were assessed with the WPPSI-R, and with the word fluency, visual attention and recognition of incomplete figures subsets of the Finnish Neuropsychological Investigation for Children (NEPSY-R; Korkman et al. 1997). The results indicated that there was stability in cognitive performance from 2 to 4 years of age. Along with cognitive performance, behavioral style, especially orientation-engagement at age 2, was an important predictor of subsequent cognitive performance (WPPSI-R). Significant gender differences were also found. For boys, orientation-engagement factor at time one was the best predictor of subsequent nonverbal cognitive performance, arithmetical abilities and word fluency at time two. In contrast, girls’ cognitive performance measured at the 2-year assessment was the most powerful predictor of nonverbal performance and word fluency at 4 years. As a whole, it seems that behavioral factors merit more consideration in understanding cognitive development than has been thought before.