Social cognition following preterm birth: A systematic review

Social cognitive abilities are affected by preterm birth, but pathways to, and risk factors for this outcome are not well mapped. We examined direct assessment tasks including objective coding of parent-child play to chart social development in infancy and pre-school years. A systematic search and data-extraction procedure yielded seventynine studies (4930 preterm and 2109 term children, aged birth -five years), for inclusion. We detected a pattern of reduced social attention in the first 12 months of life with evidence of reduced performance in social cognitive tasks later in the preschool years. However, we did not identify a consistent, distinctive preterm social phenotype in early life. Instead, the interactive behaviour of preterm infants reflects factors from outside the social cognitive domain, such as attention, language, and socioeconomic status. By combining data across samples and measures we revealed the role of domain-general skills, which may in future prove fruitful intervention targets.

Automated summary

Research suggests that preterm birth can have an impact on social cognitive abilities, with reduced social attention in early life and performance in social cognitive tasks in the preschool years. However, a consistent preterm social phenotype was not identified, and interactive behavior of preterm infants was found to be influenced by factors outside the social cognitive domain, such as attention, language, and socioeconomic status. By combining data from various studies, the role of domain-general skills in future interventions was highlighted.