title: Mathematical skills in 3- and 5-year-olds with spina bifida and their typically developing peers: a longitudinal approach.
abstract: Preschoolers with spina bifida (SB) were compared to typically developing (TD) children on tasks tapping mathematical knowledge at 36 months (n = 102) and 60 months of age (n = 98). The group with SB had difficulty compared to TD peers on all mathematical tasks except for transformation on quantities in the subitizable range. At 36 months, vocabulary knowledge, visual-spatial, and fine motor abilities predicted achievement on a measure of informal math knowledge in both groups. At 60 months of age, phonological awareness, visual-spatial ability, and fine motor skill were uniquely and differentially related to counting knowledge, oral counting, object-based arithmetic skills, and quantitative concepts. Importantly, the patterns of association between these predictors and mathematical performance were similar across the groups. A novel finding is that fine motor skill uniquely predicted object-based arithmetic abilities in both groups, suggesting developmental continuity in the neurocognitive correlates of early object-based and later symbolic arithmetic problem solving. Models combining 36-month mathematical ability and these language-based, visual-spatial, and fine motor abilities at 60 months accounted for considerable variance on 60-month informal mathematical outcomes. Results are discussed with reference to models of mathematical development and early identification of risk in preschoolers with neurodevelopmental disorder.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Marcia A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stubbs
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Kimberly P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Raghubar
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
authors.forename: Alba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agostino
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.affiliation: 4Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith-Chant
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000150:complications*; D013223:Statistics as Topic