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Developmental problems and interactions between mothers and prematurely born children,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1053/jn.200.6021Get rights and content

Abstract

This study explored how the developmental status of 49 3-year-old prematurely born children related to the interactions between these children and their mothers. Two 2-hour observations of mother-child interactions, the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory, a developmental assessment, and Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS) were scored when the child was 3 years corrected age. The effects of specific developmental problems (cognitive, language, and attention) were examined by comparing subgroups with and without these problems. Children with normal IQs spent less time not playing and scored higher on the NCATS than children with low IQs. Mothers of children with normal IQs scored higher on provision of play materials on the HOME. The mothers of children with language concerns interacted less, talked less, were more negative, and scored lower on the HOME and NCATS than mothers of the children with normal language abilities. Children with attention problems were more active than children with normal attention spans. These findings suggest that mother-child interactions might be useful for identifying children at risk for developmental delay and that interventions with preschool children with developmental delays will probably be more effective if their mothers are helped to provide a more appropriate social environment. Copyright © 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company

Section snippets

Participants

Participants for this study were 49 3-year-old, prematurely born children and their primary caretakers—41 mothers and three grandmothers (two paternal grandmothers and one maternal step grandmother). Two grandmothers had legal custody; the third was the primary caretaker for a child who was in the father's custody after a divorce. There were five sets of twins in this sample. These children were born between October 1985 and March 1990, cared for in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the

Developmental status

The children were divided into groups based on the results of their developmental assessment. The 49 children had an average IQ of 89.0 (SD, 14.3). Eighteen had IQs below 84 and were considered low IQ. The other 31 children had IQs between 84 and 117.

Language status was determined based on the PEET language domain and the clinical judgements of the developmental testers. Twenty-three children were considered to have a language concern because they had either had a definite concern on the PEET

Discussion

Clearly, when prematurely born 3-year-old children have developmental problems, their interactive behaviors and those of their mothers are affected. When children had low IQs, they spent less time playing and were less responsive to their mothers on the NCATS than children with normal IQs. Their mothers provided fewer play materials and had lower NCATS scores. The mothers of children with language concerns interacted less, talked less, were more negative, and scored lower on the HOME and NCATS

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Deborah Lee, Diane Hudson, Di Liu, Debra B. Miller, and Charlene Garrett for technical assistance.

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    Supported by Grant NR01894 from the National Center for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health.

    ☆☆

    Address reprint requests to Diane Holditch-Davis, PhD, RN, FAAN, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7460, Carrington Hall 214H, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460.

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