title: Temperament, behavior problems, and learning skills in very low birth weight preschoolers.
abstract: The relationship between temperament, behavior problems, and learning skill abilities in preschool children who were born with very low birth weight (VLBW) is described. Subjects were 37 4-year-olds who weighed less than 1,500 grams at birth, were appropriate for gestational age, and free from congenital anomalies (M birth weight = 1,201 grams). Data were gathered when the children were 48 months chronological age and analyzed using point biserial and Pearson product moment correlation, chi square, and MANOVA. Temperament characteristics of rhythmicity, intensity, and persistence were related to behavior problems and learning skill abilities. Mothers reported more children with behavior problems than expected in the general population. Children with four or more behavior problems had significantly lower skill achievement scores than children with fewer behavior problems.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, Newark 07102.
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Schraeder
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Heverly
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rappaport
mesh_terms: D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D011581:Psychological Tests; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013694:Temperament