It’s a popular belief, and actually there are several studies backing the theory, that preterm children have an increased risk for dyscalculia. A new study by Dr Julia Jäkel, a developmental psychologist from Bochum, and her colleague Prof Dr Dieter Wolke from the University of Warwick, UK proved this thesis to be wrong in their analyses – thus refuting the previous scientific studies. Why the difference with those earlier studies? Unlike the other studies, the researchers took the children’s IQ into consideration.
From the press release:
“Preterm children often have cognitive deficits; they find solving complex tasks particularly difficult. However, dyscalculia is as rare in those children as in their healthy term born peers. In order to assess specific mathematics deficiencies, children in Germany undergo a number of tests. If their result falls below a specific cut off value in maths, whilst their general cognitive skills (IQ) are normal, the diagnosis is “maths learning disorder” or “dyscalculia”. But because preterm children frequently have general cognitive problems, they are impossible to be diagnosed with current criteria; consequently, they do not receive the required tuition in maths. Julia Jäkel thus argues for internationally standardised criteria which would allow diagnosing dyscalculia in children with mild cognitive impairments.”
There is also a layman’s article on the website of the Institute of Dr Julia Jäkel:
“Mathematical deficiencies, maths learning disorder, dyscalculia, innumeracy – these terms’ definitions vary slightly,” she explains, but there are no standardised, internationally consistent diagnostic criteria. In order to assess specific maths deficiencies, children in Germany are assessed with a number of tests. If their results fall below a certain cut off value in maths while their cognitive skills (IQ) are in the normal range, they are diagnosed with “maths learning disorder” or “dyscalculia”.
“The problem with preterm children, however, is that they often have general cognitive deficits,” Julia Jäkel points out. “According to current criteria, these children can’t be diagnosed.” Together with Dieter Wolke from the University of Warwick, UK, she compared different diagnostic criteria for dyscalculia in her analysis. The aim of the study was to identify specific maths deficiencies in preterm children that were independent of general cognitive impairments. With surprising results: “There is no specific maths deficit in preterm children if their general IQ is factored in,” says the researcher.
This means that preterm children do not suffer from dyscalculia more often than term children. However, they often have maths difficulties and these may not be recognized. This is because the current criteria make it impossible to diagnose dyscalculia if a child also has general cognitive deficits. Thus, these children do not receive specific help in maths although they may be in urgent need (Fig. 2). “We need reliable and consistent diagnostic criteria,” demands Julia Jäkel. “And we’ve got to find ways to actually deliver support in schools.”
Abstract of the scientific article:
Objective: To evaluate whether the risk for dyscalculia in preterm children increases the lower the gestational age (GA) and whether small-for-gestational age birth is associated with dyscalculia.
Study design: A total of 922 children ranging from 23 to 41 weeks’ GA were studied as part of a prospective geographically defined longitudinal investigation of neonatal at-risk children in South Germany. At 8 years of age, children’s cognitive and mathematic abilities were measured with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and with a standardized mathematics test. Dyscalculia diagnoses were evaluated with discrepancy-based residuals of a linear regression predicting children’s math scores by IQ and with fixed cut-off scores. We investigated each GA group’s ORs for general cognitive impairment, general mathematic impairment, and dyscalculia by using binary logistic regressions.
Results: The risk for general cognitive and mathematic impairment increased with lower GA. In contrast, preterm children were not at increased risk of dyscalculia after statistically adjusting for child sex, family socioeconomic status, and small-for-gestational age birth.
Conclusion: The risk of general cognitive and mathematic impairments increases with lower GA but preterm children are not at increased risk of dyscalculia.