Prematurity and Its Impact on Psychosocial and Emotional Development in Children
Phyllis Zelkowitz, EdD
McGill University, Canada
, 2nd rev. ed.
Introduction
A premature birth is a birth that occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy. High-risk premature births occur at 32 weeks of gestation or earlier, at weights under 1500 g. Very-low-birthweight (VLBW, <1500 g) infants, who make up about 1% of live deliveries in Canada, may require treatment in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) for up to three months.
Subject
While mortality rates for VLBW infants have declined, there has been increasing concern about their long-term morbidity rates. A small proportion (10% to 15%) of VLBW infants are born with severe neurosensory handicaps such as blindness, deafness, or cerebral palsy, and 30-60% go on to show cognitive deficits, learning disabilities and language impairments.1,2 VLBW children have been found to exhibit a variety of behavioural problems, such as attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, excessive shyness and withdrawal, and social problems.3 About 29% of VLBW children and adolescents exhibit at least one mental health problem.4 In fact, VLBW children are more than twice as likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorders, compared to children born at full term.
Problems
VLBW infants are medically fragile, and may suffer from many complications, including respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular haemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), and retinopathy of prematurity (abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye). They often continue to experience physical health problems that may require frequent medical visits and re-hospitalization in the early years of life. This may limit their participation in regular childhood activities, which may in turn affect their development of social skills. These infants can also be challenging interaction partners for their parents, due to their fragility, irritability, and lack of responsiveness to their social environment. Many parents feel emotional distress following the birth of a VLBW infant, and this may affect parenting behaviour. Maternal anxiety, assessed while the infant was hospitalized in the NICU, has been associated with less effective parenting behaviour in early infancy and in toddlerhood.5 Depressed mothers have been reported to perceive their VLBW preschoolers as less socially competent, and tend to restrict their participation in extracurricular activities such as sports and creative arts.6
Research Context
Developmental outcomes in VLBW infants are best understood as an interaction between biological vulnerability and environmental factors, such as socio-economic status and parental attitudes, and behaviour. Preterm infants may be particularly susceptible to environmental influences in that the impact of environmental factors on infant behaviour is often stronger in preterm infants than it is in full-term infants. Therefore, to assess risk for abnormal outcomes in VLBW infants, it is essential to consider both medical and psychosocial risk factors.
There are still many challenges facing researchers studying developmental outcomes in VLBW infants. Indeed, continuing advances in medical technology have brought about the survival of smaller, sicker babies, making it difficult to compare children from different periods of time. Furthermore, studies demonstrating differences between VLBW and normal birthweight children have shed little light on the processes that lead to such discrepancies.
Key Research Questions
We have identified three main strands for further research:
1. The impact of premature birth on the developing brain
2. The identification of risk factors for behaviour problems and psychiatric disorders
3. Early intervention with parents and their VLBW infants.
Recent Research Results
Magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown reduced brain volume in children who were born preterm as compared to children born at full-term;7 smaller brain volumes were associated with lower cognitive scores and a higher incidence of attention deficit disorder. Not all preterm infants exhibit brain injuries such intraventricular hemorrhage or ventricular enlargement, but those who do are at greater risk for major depressive disorder and attention deficit disorder.8 Severe brain injuries are more often observe among preterm infants who had lower Apgar scores, and complications of prematurity such as patent ductus aeteriosus (a heart problem) and necrotizing enterocolitis (infection and inflammation of the bowel).9 Maternal responsiveness (which includes awareness of and sensitivity to an infant’s cues) is associated with greater social and intellectual competence among VLBW children in early childhood.10 By contrast, controlling, restrictive parental behaviour is associated with poorer social skills and cognitive development among VLBW children at age 3.11 Developmental delays may predict a higher frequency of disorganized attachment patterns in preterm/VLBW infants than in full-term infants.12 The need to consider both biological and environmental factors in the development of VLBW infants is highlighted in a study that showed that the two strongest predictors of emotional and behavioural self-regulation were moderate to severe white matter abnormalities and parental sensitivity.13 Relationship satisfaction and social support promote parental responsiveness14 and thus may mediate the relationship between maternal distress and social and emotional problems in VLBW children.15
Interventions with premature infants and their parents have ranged from targeting a specific risk factor (such as the need for supplementary sensory stimulation) to offering a comprehensive package of services (including medical follow-up, parent training, and centre-based care for infants).16 Recent efforts have focused on promoting maternal competence and enhancing the mother–infant relationship. Kangaroo Care, which encourages mother–infant skin-to-skin contact, has been found to increase parental sensitivity and reduce intrusiveness.17 Therapeutic interventions designed to reduce maternal distress have shown some benefits,18 but have not been tested in randomized controlled trials.
Conclusions
Because VLBW children are at greater risk than their full-term counterparts for both learning and behavioural difficulties, it is important to investigate how both psychosocial and biological risk factors may affect child outcomes. Sophisticated imaging techniques can be used to learn more about the impact of prematurity on brain development. The lengthy hospital stays required by most VLBW infants and the separation from their parents that ensues can provoke anxiety in parents about their child’s health and uncertainty regarding their ability to parent their fragile infant. The development of self-regulation in VLBW infants may be delayed or impaired because they are difficult interaction partners. Their responses to social stimulation and their behavioural signals are different than those seen in full-term infants. Consequently, caregivers may have greater difficulty behaving responsively with their VLBW infants. While VLBW infants may be challenging and somewhat unsatisfying interaction partners, sensitive parental behaviour can produce significant benefits.
Implications for Policy and Services
Children born preterm who exhibit cognitive deficits and behaviour problems tax the physical, emotional, and financial resources of their families. Moreover, these children may enter school lacking adequate cognitive and social skills and requiring additional educational and social services. Therefore, in order to plan appropriate interventions for VLBW children, it is necessary to screen early, and specify the determinants of their future social and academic competence. By identifying factors that are associated with poor developmental outcomes (such as parental anxiety or lack of social support) it may be possible to sensitize health and education professionals to circumstances that may facilitate or impede parents’ ability to provide sensitive, responsive care to VLBW infants. Preventive interventions that begin in early infancy and that target parental well-being as well as the improvement of parenting skills are likely to be the most useful approaches to ensuring optimal developmental outcomes in the future.
References
- Woodward LJ, Moor S, Hood KM, et al. Very preterm children show impairments across multiple neurodevelopmental domains by age 4 years. Archives of Disease in Childhood-Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2009;94:F339-F44.
- Vohr B, Speech and language outcomes of very preterm infants. Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine 2014;19:78-83.
- Saigal S, Doyle LW. An overview of mortality and sequelae of preterm birth from infancy to adulthood. The Lancet 2008;371:261-9.
- Singh GK, Kenney MK, Ghandour RM, Kogan MD, Lu MC. Mental health outcomes in US children and adolescents born prematurely or with low birthweight. Depression Research and Treatment 2013;2013:13.
- Zelkowitz P, Papageorgiou A, Bardin C, Wang T. Persistent maternal anxiety affects the interaction between mothers and their very low birthweight children at 24 months. Early Human development 2009;85:51-8.
- Silverstein M, Feinberg E, Young R, Sauder S. Maternal depression, perceptions of children's social aptitude and reported activity restriction among former very low birthweight infants. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2010.
- Peterson BS, Vohr B, Staib LH, Cannistraci CJ, Dolberg A, Schneider KC, Katz KH, Westerveld M, Sparrow S, Anderson AW, Duncan CC, Makuch RW, Gore JC, Ment LR. Regional brain volume abnormalities and long-term cognitive outcome in preterm infants. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association 2000;284(15):1939-1947.
- Whitaker AH, Feldman JF, Lorenz JM, et al. Neonatal Head Ultrasound Abnormalities in Preterm Infants and Adolescents Psychiatric Disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2011;68:742-52.
- Kidokoro H, Anderson PJ, Doyle LW, Woodward LJ, Neil JJ, Inder TE. Brain Injury and Altered Brain Growth in Preterm Infants: Predictors and Prognosis. Pediatrics 2014;134:e444.
- Landry SH, Smith KE, Swank PR, Assel MA, Vellet S. Does early responsive parenting have a special importance for children's development or is consistency across early childhood necesary? Developmental Psychology 2001;37(3):387-403.
- Landry SH, Smith KE, Miller-Loncar CL, Swank PR. Predicting cognitive-language and social growth curves from early maternal behaviors in children at varying degrees of biological risk. Developmental Psychology 1997;33(3):1040-1053.
- Wolke D, Eryigit-Madzwamuse S, Gutbrod T. Very preterm/very low birthweight infants' attachment: infant and maternal characteristics. Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2014;99:F70-F5.
- Clark CAC, Woodward LJ, Horwood LJ, Moor S. Development of emotional and behavioral regulation in children born extremely preterm and very preterm: Biological and social influences. Child Development 2008;79:1444-62.
- Evans T, Whittingham K, Boyd R. What helps the mother of a preterm infant become securely attached, responsive and well-adjusted? Infant behavior and Development 2012;35:1-11.
- Feldman R. Maternal versus child risk and the development of parent-child and family relationships in five high-risk populations. Dev Psychopathol 2007;19:293-312.
- Newnham CA, Milgrom J, Skouteris H, Effectiveness of a modified mother-infant transaction program on outcomes for preterm infants from 3 to 24 months of age. Infant Behavior and Development 2009;32:17-26.
- Feldman R, Weller A, Sirota L, Eidelman AI. Testing a family intervention hypothesis: The contribution of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact (Kangaroo care) to family interaction, proximity, and touch. Journal of Family Psychology 2003;17(1):94-107.
- Jotzo M, Poets CF. Helping parents cope with the trauma of premature birth: An evaluation of a trauma-preventive psychological intervention. Pediatrics 2005;115(4):915-919.
How to cite this article:
Zelkowitz P. Prematurity and Its Impact on Psychosocial and Emotional Development in Children. In: Tremblay RE, Boivin M, Peters RDeV, eds. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/prematurity/according-experts/prematurity-and-its-impact-psychosocial-and-emotional-development. Updated: April 2017. Accessed November 9, 2024.
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