Do Children with Constitutional Delay Really Have More Learning Problems?

Abstract

To assess the effects of constitutional short stature on intellectual, academic and visual-motor functioning, we administered a battery of psychological tests to a group of 24 such children. Their responses were compared to those of 23 subjects with normal height matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. Contrary to the conclusions of uncontrolled studies, our data showed short and control groups to be comparable on all variables. While children with constitutional delay have been shown to exhibit low self-esteem and high levels of internalizing behavior problems, these difficulties do not appear to intrude significantly into the intellectual or academic realms.