What predicts mathematics achievement? Developmental change in 5- and 7-year-old children.

Many changes occur in general and specific cognitive abilities in children between 5 and 7 years of age, the period coinciding with entrance into formal schooling. The current study focused on the relative contributions of approximate number system (ANS) acuity, mapping precision between numeral symbols and their corresponding magnitude (mapping precision) and working memory (WM) capacity to mathematics achievement in 5- and 7-year-olds. Children's performance was examined in different tasks: nonsymbolic number comparison, number line estimation, working memory, mathematics achievement, and vocabulary. This latter task was used to determine whether predictors were general or specific to mathematics achievement. The results showed that ANS acuity was a significant specific predictor of mathematics achievement only in 5-year-olds, mapping precision was a significant specific predictor at the two ages, and WM was a significant general predictor only in 7-year-olds. These findings suggest that a general cognitive ability, especially WM, becomes a stronger predictor of mathematics achievement after entrance into formal schooling, whereas ANS acuity, a specific cognitive ability, loses predictive power. Moreover, mediation analyses showed that mapping precision was a partial mediator of the relation between ANS acuity and mathematics achievement in 5-year-olds but not in 7-year-olds. Conversely, in 7-year-olds but not in 5-year-olds, WM fully mediated the relation between ANS acuity and mathematics achievement. These results showed that between 5 and 7 years of age, the period of transition into formal mathematical learning, important changes occurred in the relative weights of different predictors of mathematics achievement.

The effect of a mindfulness-based intervention on executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competencies in very preterm young adolescents.

Very preterm (VPT) children and adolescents show executive, behavioural and socio-emotional difficulties that persists into adulthood. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) in improving these competencies in VPT young adolescents using a randomised controlled trial design. 56 young adolescents aged 10-14 years, born before 32 gestational weeks, were randomly assigned to an "intervention" or a "waiting" group and completed an 8-week MBI in a cross-over design. Executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competencies were assessed at three different time points via parent and self-reported questionnaires, neuropsychological testing and computerised tasks. The data were analysed using an intention-to-treat approach with linear regression modelling. Our findings show a beneficial effect of MBI on executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competencies in VPT young adolescents measured by parent questionnaires. Increased executive competencies were also observed on computerised task with enhanced speed of processing after MBI. Two subgroups of participants were created based on measures of prematurity, which revealed increased long-term benefits in the moderate-risk that were not observed in the high-risk subgroups of VPT young adolescents. MBI seems a valuable tool for reducing detrimental consequences of prematurity in young adolescents, especially regarding executive, behavioural and socio-emotional difficulties.Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials, NCT04638101. Registered 20 November 2020-Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT04638101 .

Improving executive, behavioural and socio-emotional competences in very preterm young adolescents through a mindfulness-based intervention: Study protocol and feasibility.

BACKGROUND: Very preterm (VPT) children and adolescents show executive, behavioural and socio-emotional difficulties that persist into adulthood. Despite the promising role of mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) in improving theses competences in children and adolescents, the effectiveness of an MBI has not been assessed in a VPT population so far. AIMS: To describe the protocol and to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a clinical trial on an 8-week MBI program to enhance executive and socio-emotional competences in a cohort of VPT young adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial (RCT) and a pre-post intervention designs. PARTICIPANTS: 164 VPT young adolescents from 10 to 14 years old, born before 32 gestational weeks, without major intellectual, sensory or physical impairments, and attending mainstream school, were invited to participate in an 8-week MBI program. OUTCOME MEASURES: Completion rate of the study was recorded. Acceptability, satisfaction and attendance measures of the MBI were collected using self-reported questionnaires and registration of attendance. RESULTS: Of the 63 participants who were enrolled in the study (38.2% of families invited to participate), 52 (82.5%) completed all assessments. Acceptability was high as shown by the high attendance rate in the sessions and the feedback evaluation questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that an MBI is feasible to implement and show a high acceptability among participants. The use of an RCT design in our study constitutes the gold standard for testing the efficacy of such intervention in VPT young adolescents. If effective, the MBI program could potentially be a valuable tool for improving executive and socio-emotional competences in the vulnerable VPT population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials, NCT04638101. Registered 19 November 2020 - retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT04638101.

Children's Approximate Number System in Haptic Modality.

The approximate number system (ANS) is a primitive system used to estimate quantities. It can process quantities in visual and auditory modalities. The aim of the present study was to examine whether ANS can process quantities presented haptically. Moreover, to assess age-related changes, two groups of children (5- and 7-year-olds) were compared. In a newly designed haptic task, children compared two arrays of dots by touching them simultaneously using both hands, without seeing them, and for limited duration to prevent counting. Using Panamath, a frequently used visual ANS task, we verified that our population exhibited the typical pattern of approximation with visual arrays: Older children outperformed younger children, and an increased ratio between the two quantities to be compared led to more accurate responses. Performance in the haptic task revealed that children, in both age-groups, were able to haptically compare two quantities above chance level, with improved performance in older compared with younger children. Moreover, our results revealed a ratio effect, a well-known signature of the ANS. These findings suggest that haptic numerical discrimination in children is dictated by the ANS, and that ANS acuity measured with a haptic task improves with age, as commonly observed with the visual task.