Background: Very preterm(VP) infants are at greater risk for cognitive difficulties thatmay persist during school age,
adolescence and adulthood. Behavioral assessments report either effortful control (part of executive functions)
or emotional reactivity/regulation impairments.
Aims: The aim of this study is to examinewhether emotional recognition, reactivity, and regulation, aswell as effortful
control abilities are impaired in very pretermchildren at 42 months of age, comparedwith their full-term
peers, and to what extent emotional and effortful control difficulties are linked.
Study design: Children born very preterm (VP; b 29 weeks gestational age, n = 41) and full-term (FT) agedmatched
children (n = 47) participated in a series of specific neuropsychological tests assessing their level of
emotional understanding, reactivity and regulation, as well as their attentional and effortful control abilities.
Results: VP children exhibited higher scores of frustration and fear, and were less accurate in naming facial expressions
of emotions than their aged-matched peers. However, VP children and FT children equally performed
when asked to choose emotional facial expression in social context, and when we assessed their selective attention
skills. VP performed significantly lower than full terms on two tasks of inhibition when correcting for verbal
skills. Moreover, significant correlations between cognitive capacities (effortful control) and emotional abilities
were evidenced.
Conclusions: Compared to their FT peers, 42 month-olds who were born very preterm are at higher risk of
exhibiting specific emotional and effortful control difficulties. The results suggest that these difficulties are linked.
Ongoing behavioral and emotional impairments starting at an early age in preterms highlight the need for early
interventions based on a better understanding of the relationship between emotional and cognitive difficulties