Prospective Assessment of Early Developmental Markers and Their Association with Neuropsychological Impairment

Purpose: Children who experience adversities in the pre-perinatal period are at a higher risk of developing impairments later in life, despite the absence of overt brain and neurological abnormalities. However, many of these children exhibit sequelae several years after a period of normal appearance. As a result, accurate developmental assessments for the early detection of infants at high risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes have become a significant concern. The Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS) have a promising but poorly explored prognostic ability. Methods: This longitudinal study evaluated the predictive power of the GMDS at 12 and 24 months on the cognitive and neuropsychological profile at 6 years of age in a sample of 70 children with a history of prematurity or perinatal asphyxia but without brain and neurological abnormalities. Results: We found that the GMDS at 24 months had good predictive ability on the IQ at 6 years and the capacity to predict some neuropsychological performances. On the other hand, the GMDS at 12 months was not associated with the performance at 6 years or with the GMDS at 24 months. Conclusions: Data on brain development converge to indicate that 2 years of age is a critical stage of development, particularly for children experiencing mild pre-perinatal adversities who are thought to exhibit white matter dysmaturity. For this reason, this age is crucial for identifying which children are at major risk, leaving enough time to intervene before overt deficits become apparent.