Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40621703›Full record

ArticlePsychological medicine2025

Early predictors of late childhood behavioural outcomes following very preterm birth.

Zeyuan Sun, Andrew J Lawrence, Laila Hadaya, Alexandria O'Reilly Mescall, Lu Zhang, Qiaoyue Ge, Emily Simonoff, Serena J Counsell, A David Edwards, Paola Dazzan and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Mental health outcomes in young adolescents born preterm reveal the need for earlier screening.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Zeyuan SunDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2309-8149
Andrew J LawrenceDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Laila HadayaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Alexandria O'Reilly MescallDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Lu ZhangDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Qiaoyue GeDepartment of Maternal and Child Health, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Emily SimonoffDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Serena J CounsellResearch Department of Early Life Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
A David EdwardsResearch Department of Early Life Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Paola DazzanDepartment of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Chiara NosartiDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChildren born very preterm (VPT; ≤32 weeks' gestation) are at higher risk of developing behavioural problems, encompassing socio-emotional processing and attention, compared to term-born children. This study aimed to examine multi-dimensional predictors of late childhood behavioural and psychiatric outcomes in very preterm children, using longitudinal clinical, environmental, and cognitive measures.

methodsParticipants were 153 VPT children previously enrolled in the Evaluation of Preterm Imaging study who underwent neuropsychological assessments at 18-24 months, 4-7 years and 8-11 years as part of the Brain Immunity and Psychopathology following very Preterm birth (BIPP) study. Predictors of late childhood behavioural and psychiatric outcomes were investigated, including clinical, environmental, cognitive, and behavioural measures in toddlerhood and early childhood. Parallel analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted to define outcome variables. A prediction model using elastic-net regularisation and repeated nested cross-validation was applied to evaluate the predictive strength of these variables.

resultsFactor analysis revealed two key outcome factors in late childhood: externalising and internalising-socio-emotional problems. The strongest predictors of externalising problems were response inhibition, effortful control and internalising symptoms in early childhood (cross-validated

conclusionsEarly childhood cognitive and behavioural outcomes predicted late childhood behavioural and psychiatric outcomes in very preterm children. These findings underscore the importance of early interventions targeting cognitive development and behavioural regulation to mitigate long-term psychiatric risks in very preterm children.

Indexed as

Child BehaviorChild Behavior DisordersInfant, Extremely PrematureChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornLongitudinal StudiesMaleNeuropsychological Testsbehaviourchildcognitionlongitudinal studiespremature birth

Identifiers

PMID40621703
PMCPMC12270274

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.