Neurobehavioral development and early regulatory problem in very preterm and very low birth weight infants

Children born preterm have more neurodevelopmental difficulties compared with full-term peers, including difficulties with cognitive function, self-regulation, attention, executive function, and emotional regulation. Children born preterm have also been found to have regulatory difficulties (defined as excessive crying, sleeping, or feeding problems) in early childhood, which in turn are early warning signs of future problems. The aims of the study are 1) to investigate the specificity of neurobehavioral profile in very preterm/very low birth weight (VP/VLBW) and full-term (FT) infants; 2) to explore differences in regulatory problems expressed by infants born very preterm (VP; <32 wk gestation) or with very low birth weight (VLBW;