The IQ of adults born very premature or of very low birth weight can be predicted when they are just a toddler, new research shows.
In contrast, the research found the IQ of adults who were born full-term couldn’t be accurately predicted until age six.
Previous studies have linked very premature birth and very low birth weight with impaired cognitive function from childhood and throughout adulthood. However until now it wasn’t clear how soon adult IQ can be predicted in these children
“We believe this is the first time a research paper has looked into the prediction of the IQ of adults over the age of 26 who were born very premature or with very low birth weight,” says Dieter Wolke, a psychology professor at the University of Warwick.
“The results indicate that assessing two year olds who were born very preterm or very underweight and will provide a reasonably good prediction to what their adult IQ will be.”
