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Objective: To increase the understanding of social adjustment and autism spectrum disorder symptoms in adolescents born very preterm by studying the role of emotion recognition and cognitive control processes in the relation between very preterm birth and social adjustment., Study Design: A Dutch cohort of 61 very preterm and 61 full-term adolescents aged 13 years participated. Social adjustment was rated by parents, teachers, and adolescents and autism spectrum disorder symptoms by parents. Emotion recognition was assessed with a computerized task including pictures of child faces expressing anger, fear, sadness, and happiness with varying intensity. Cognitive control was assessed using a visuospatial span, antisaccade, and sustained attention to response task. Performance measures derived from these tasks served as indicators of a latent cognitive control construct, which was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Mediation analyses were conducted with emotion recognition and cognitive control as mediators of the relation between very preterm birth and social problems., Results: Very preterm adolescents showed more parent- and teacher-rated social problems and increased autism spectrum disorder symptomatology than controls. No difference in self-reported social problems was observed. Moreover, very preterm adolescents showed deficits in emotion recognition and cognitive control compared with full-term adolescents. The relation between very preterm birth and parent-rated social problems was significantly mediated by cognitive control but not by emotion recognition. Very preterm birth was associated with a 0.67-SD increase in parent-rated social problems through its negative effect on cognitive control., Conclusions: The present findings provide strong evidence for a central role of impaired cognitive control in the social problems of adolescents born very preterm., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To clarify the severity, specificity, and neurocognitive underpinnings of attention problems in very preterm children., Study Design: A sample of 66 preterm (<32 weeks gestation), mean (SD) age 7.5 (0.4) years, and 66 age-matched term controls participated. Symptoms of inattention were assessed using parent and teacher-rated questionnaires, and neurocognitive measures included speed and consistency in speed of information processing, lapses of attention (tau), alerting, orienting, and executive attention, as well as verbal and visuospatial working memory. Group differences were investigated using ANOVA, and Sobel tests were used to clarify the mediating role of neurocognitive impairments on attention problems., Results: There was a large decrease in visuospatial working memory abilities (P < .001, d = .87), and medium increases in tau (P = .002, d = 0.55) as well as parent and teacher ratings of inattention (range d = 0.40-0.56) in very preterm children compared with term peers. Tau and visuospatial working memory were significant predictors of parent (R(2) = .161, P < .001 and R(2) = .071, P = .001; respectively) and teacher (R(2) = .152, P < .001 and R(2) = .064, P = .002; respectively) ratings of inattention, and completely explained the effects of very preterm birth on attention problems., Conclusions: Increased lapses of attention and poorer visuospatial working memory fully account for the attention problems in very premature children at school-age., (Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

We screened 115 children with Down syndrome for celiac disease, using antigliadin, antiendomysium, and antireticulin serum antibodies and an intestinal permeability test. Celiac disease was diagnosed in eight children, giving a frequency of 7.0%. We recommend screening for celiac disease in all persons with Down syndrome, with the use of at least the antiendomysium antibody determination.