Temperament of Low Birth Weight Infants and Child-Rearing Stress: Comparison with Full-term Healthy Infants

Abstract

Infant temperament was studied at 6 and 18 months of age in low birth weight (LBW) and full-term healthy (FT) infants, in relation to infant temperament and child-rearing stress. The sample amounted to 53 mothers of LBW infants and 397 mothers of FT infants at 6 months, and 35 mothers of LBW infants and 144 mothers of FT infants at 18 months. Temperament was assessed by RITQ (6 months) and TTS (18 months). The mothers' child-rearing stress was assessed by an original child-rearing stress questionnaire. As temperament characteristics, the only significant difference was a significantly higher score for "approach vs . avoidance" in LBW infants at 6 months. Although differences between child-rearing stress scores were not significant between mothers of LBW and FT infants, multiple regression analysis revealed that a higher proportion of child-rearing stress could be explained by the child's temperamental characteristics in mothers of LBW infants.