title: Behavior and well-being of extremely low birth weight teenagers in Iceland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Preterm children are at risk for behavioral and emotional problems.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate behavior and emotional well-being of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) teenagers born in Iceland in 1991-1995.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants, 30 of 35 ELBW survivors (25 girls, 5 boys, mean age 16.8 years), were interviewed, underwent medical examination and answered the Youth Self-Report for ages 11-18 (YSR) of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). The ELBW parents answered the ASEBA Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 and the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ). A comparison group of 30 teenagers (23 girls, 7 boys, mean age 16.5 years) answered the YSR questionnaire and their parents answered the CBCL and ASSQ questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ELBW teenagers and parents report more behavior problems than the full term comparison teenagers and parents. They score significantly higher on the YSR and CBCL syndrome scales except for YSR and CBCL rule-breaking behavior and CBCL thought problems. The ELBW teenagers self-report on total competence, activities, social participation and academic performance was not significantly lower than the comparison teenagers. Parents of ELBW teenagers rated total competence, social participation and school performance of their children significantly lower than parents of comparison teenagers. The YSR Positive Qualities Scale was not significantly different between the two teenage groups. Two ELBW teenagers scored above cut-off points on the ASSQ questionnaire and none of the comparison teenagers. Bullying was reported by 20% of ELBW parents compared to none of the comparison group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ELBW teenagers experience emotional, behavior and social challenges. The teenagers value their positive qualities, activities and academic performance similar to peers.
authors.affiliation: The State Diagnostic and Counselling Centre, Kópavogur, Iceland. Electronic address: ingibjorg@greining.is.
authors.forename: Ingibjorg
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Georgsdottir
authors.forename: Asgeir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haraldsson
authors.forename: Atli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dagbjartsson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescents; Behavior; Bullying; Extremely low birth weight (ELBW); Well-being