Finishing first grade: a study of school achievement in very-low-birth-weight children

• Published in: Nursing research (New York) Vol. 41; no. 6; p. 354
• Main Authors: Schraeder, B D, Heverly, M A, O'Brien, C, McEvoy-Shields, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-11-1992
• Subjects: Achievement; Birth Weight; Child; Female; Humans; Infant, Low Birth Weight; Infant, Newborn; Male; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Observer Variation; Prospective Studies; Psychological Tests; Regression Analysis; Social Environment; Socioeconomic Factors
• ISSN: 0029-6562
• DOI: 10.1097/00006199-199211000-00007

Factors that influence school achievement in very-low-birth-weight (< 1,500 g) children were investigated at the completion of first grade. The subjects were 71 children and their primary caregivers. Thirty-nine children were very low birth weight (VLBW) and 32 were normal birth weight (NBW). After controlling for birth weight status, over one third of the variance in children's school achievement was accounted for by the age of the child's mother when she began childbearing. Birth weight status accounted for significant amounts of variance in information processing skills. Significantly more children in the VLBW group required special services and fewer were promoted to second grade, although the difference was not significant.