Parent interaction with their preterm infants and later mental development

Abstract

We find that the early home environment does alter developmental competence in preterm children. Although the fact of prematurity and the attendant complications that infants sustain do place them at risk, recovery occurs in most infants. Medical factors do not predict which infants will have later problems in mental development whereas the nature of the environment in which they are being reared does. Yet the early home environment and the interaction an infant has with its mother explains only a small portion of the variation in mental test performance, concurrently and later. All studies of risk children have noted wide variations in outcome. Some children appear to be invulnerable to early sickness, unresponsive caregiving, and poor family circumstances. We need to increase our understanding of children who succeed despite adversity, and the factors that buffer them, as well as factors associated with deficits.