Perinatal and Psychological Correlates of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children.

Perinatal, Cognitive and Social-emotional Correlates of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Learning Difficulties in Children and Adolescents, From a Biopsychosocial Perspective.

The goal of this observational study is to investigate perinatal, cognitive and social-emotional correlates of neurodevelopmental disorders and educational difficulties in children and adolescents.

The study group consist of minimal 500 childrens over 5 years of age who will be examined by qualified diagnosticians. Participants will be evaluated with tasks related to the studied variables: cognitive functioning, social-emotional functioning. Furthermore informations regarding social-emotional functioning of children, will be collected from parents and teachers.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Is there a relationship between perinatal factors and the risk of occurrence of neurodevelopmental disorders and/or learning difficulties?
2. Is there a specific pattern of cognitive functioning in children and adolescents with indicated neurodevelopmental disorders and/or learning difficulties?
3. Is there a specific pattern of social-emotional functioning in children and adolescents with indicated neurodevelopmental disorders and/or learning difficulties?
4. Do gender and age moderates specific patterns of cognitive and social-emotional functioning in the studied groups?

Researchers will compare the following groups of children over 5 years old:

1. With perinatal risks factors

2. With neurodevelopmental disorders:

   1. Developmental learning disorder
   2. Disorder of intellectual development, mild
   3. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
   4. Autism spectrum disorder

3. With Learning difficulties

4. Control group

Inclusion criteria for neurodevelopmental disorder groups:

• age between 5 to 18 y.o.
• diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders, depending on the study group: 1) Developmental learning disorder; 2) Disorder of intellectual development, mild; 3) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; 4) Autism spectrum disorder

Inclusion criteria for learning difficulties:

• age between 5 to 18 y.o.
• difficulty in reading and/or writing without a diagnosis of Developmental learning disorder

Inclusion criteria for control group

• age between 5 to 18 y.o.
• without a diagnosis of any neurodevelopmental disorder

Exclusion criteria for learning difficulties

- diagnosis of Developmental learning disorder

Exclusion criteria for all groups:

• age below 5 y.o. and equal to or above 19 y.o.
• diagnosis of any neurodevelopmental disorders