Abstract
Preterm infants are at risk for socioemotional deficits, neurodevelopmental disorders, and potentially theory of mind (ToM) deficits. Preterm infants enrolled in a randomized controlled trial in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) received Standard Care (SC) or Family Nurture Intervention (FNI). Children (N = 72; median age 61.8 ± 2.6 months; FNI: 35 (55%), SC:2 9 (45%)) completed a ToM task, of whom 64 (54% male; born to White (43.8%), Black (18.7%), and Hispanic (25.0%) mothers) contributed to this analysis. FNI and SC infants born extremely preterm to very preterm differed significantly: 78% (14 of 18) of FNI children passed vs. 30% (3 of 10) SC children (p = 0.01, effect size = 1.06). This large effect size suggests that FNI in the NICU may ameliorate deficits in social-cognitive skills of extreme to very preterm infants by school age.
Highlights
Theory of mind (ToM) is a complex social-cognitive ability that allows one to recognize that others have their own mental states including thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires that are different than his or her own [1]
At 7–13 years, children born preterm demonstrated reduced activation and connectivity of several brain regions that have been implicated in the ToM network, as measured by magnetoencephalography [26,27]. These results suggest that recruitment of these critical brain regions may be altered in children who are born prematurely and that these changes may persist into adolescence
A primary aim of this study was to evaluate the development of ToM in a sample of children who were born prematurely and to determine whether a parental intervention in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) could mitigate the previously reported deficits in ToM
Summary
Theory of mind (ToM) is a complex social-cognitive ability that allows one to recognize that others have their own mental states including thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires that are different than his or her own [1]. The ability to employ ToM requires complex coordination of areas of the brain necessary for cognitive and socio-emotional intelligence and is likely crucial for establishing positive social relationships with others [2,3,4]. This capacity typically emerges between four and five years of age, though instability in ToM at this age has been noted [5,6,7]. Data provided by functional MRI brain imaging have led to a distinction by some researchers between ‘cognitive ToM,’ ‘cognitive affective empathy,’ and ‘affective empathy’, with each being associated with different brain regions [8]. Among the mechanisms proposed to account for ToM is the complex coordination of areas of the brain necessary for establishing ‘emotional intelligence’ [10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call