Infants born before 32 weeks gestation have higher rates of psychiatric disorders by school age, a study has found.

Researchers looked at 177 very preterm children and found they were three times more likely to meet the criteria for a psychiatric disorder by age seven than children born at term.

The most common psychiatric diagnoses for very preterm children were anxiety disorders (11%), ADHD (10%) and autism spectrum disorders (4.5%)

Results from the study will increase the opportunity for intervention in early childhood.