The Benefits of Baby Love
April 15, 2015
MedicalXpress — Eleven percent of all births worldwide are preterm, or occurring before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and preterm-related causes of death account for a significant number of infant deaths, as well as long-term neurological disabilities.
A BGU study recently published in the journal Child Development finds that early positive care giving can reduce risks associated with preterm birth.
The study, conducted at Soroka University Medical Center by Noa Gueron-Sela, Ph.D., of BGU’s Department of Psychology, focused on 150 two-parent, low- to middle-income families of infants; about half of the infants were born preterm (28 to 34 weeks) with no significant medical complications and half were born full-term.
“We found that preterm infants are particularly sensitive to both negative and positive effects of parenting on development,” says Gueron-Sela.
When the babies were six months old, each parent completed questionnaires assessing emotional distress (symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as stress from parenting).
In addition, family warmth and cooperation were assessed based on videotaped interactions of the parents and infants playing together. When the babies reached 12 months, researchers assessed the infants’ cognitive and social competences.
Infants born prematurely who were exposed to high levels of emotional stress from their mothers and tense, uncooperative relationships within their families had worse cognitive and social outcomes than full-term infants.
However, infants born prematurely who were exposed to low levels of maternal distress and had warm, cooperative family relationships had similar cognitive outcomes and even better social abilities than infants born full term.
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