THE SOCIAL-BEHAVIOR OF 11-YEAR-OLD TO 12-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN BORN AS LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT AND OR PREMATURE-INFANTS/

Two studies (Study 1 and Study 2) were carried out to compare the soci al behaviour of school-aged children born as premature and/or low birt hweight infants, with that of children born as healthy fullterm infant s. Participants in Study 1 were 147 Ii-year-olds of whom 49 (29 female s and 20 males) were reported by their parents to have been born prema turely. Participants in Study 2 were 84 Ii-year-old boys, 28 of whom w ere born with a birthweight less than 2000 grams. These at-risk subjec ts were followed for a period of two years. Subgroups within both stud y groups were matched with control groups using gender, age, and the s chool environment as common factors. Children in the target classes of Study 1 were classified using the Revised Class Play (Masten, Morison , & Pelligrini, 1985) and the Peer Nomination Inventory (Ferry, Kusel, & Ferry, 1988). In Study 2, the children completed the Pupil Evaluati on Inventory (PEI) (Pekarik, Print, Liebert, Weintraub, & Neale, 1976) . Findings suggest that aggressive behaviour is not related to birth s tatus and that birth status is not linked to prosocial behaviour assoc iated with sociability and likeability. However, both studies showed t hat children (boys and girls alike) born as premature or low birthweig ht infants, expressed greater levels of internalised social behaviour. These findings suggest that infants born premature and/or with a low birthweight may be less socially competent with their peers during the ir school-age years.