40 PT, BW <1500 g and/or requiring mechanical ventilation (PT)
25 FT, healthy (H-FT)
Not defined
At 12 months (CA)
(i) Free interaction in 5 different situations: waiting, physical exam with a nurse present, physical exam with the nurse absent, the nurse return, and blood drawing (ii) Live observation: 5, 2, 2, 2, and 4 min, respectively (iii) At the hospital (iv) Checklist by Lasky et al. [41]
(i) Mother—restrain infant, positioning near infant, looking at the infant, not smiling at infant during blood draw: H-FT > PT Other measures: Bayley Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI): PT < H-FT
-Visit 1 and 2: routine feeding, visit 3: face-to-face play sequence. -Live observation, visits 1-2: duration not reported, visit 3: 10 min -At home -Scoring of infant and maternal behaviors (as in Minde et al. [43])
(i) Feeding 4 weeks: Infant—alert/focused: H-FT>PT Mother—look en face: PT>H-FT Mother—vocalize to others: PT>H-FT Mother—touch: PT<H-FT Mother—smile: PT<H-FT (ii) Feeding 8 weeks: Infant—leg movements: H-FT>PT Mother—vocalize to others: PT>H-FT Mother—vocalize to baby: PT>H-FT Mother—touch: PT<H-FT Mother—smile: PT<H-FT (iii) Play 12 weeks: Infant—head/mouth movements: PT>H-FT Mother—look: PT>H-FT Mother—vocalize to baby: PT>H-FT Mother—smile: PT<H-FT Other measure: “Sicker infants” defined according to a morbidity scale by Minde et al. [44] display more behavioral disorganization during feeding, cry more, and have their eyes open.
20 high-risk (HR) PT with IVH III-IV, RDS, or BPD (HR-PT)
20 low-risk (LR) PT with transient to moderate RDS and/or IVH I-II (LR-PT) 20 FT: healthy full term (H-FT)
Not defined
12 months (CA)
-Free play interaction -Video recording—10 min -At the laboratory -Coding of mothers’ attention-directing and infants’ exploratory strategies [45]
-Mother—attention-directing behaviors: HR-PT>LR-PT, H-FT; -Mother—questions: H-FT>LR-PT=HR-PT Other measures: mothers of HR-PT used questions more often with infants with higher MDI, while they use attention-directing gestures with infants with lower MDI
37 healthy (H) infants matched for age, sex, and race
Not defined
At 8 months (CA)
-Interactions during a feeding episode, a session in which the mother is asked to teach the child an age-appropriate task and a free play session. -Live observation: 120 min in total -At home -NCAFS, NCATS, and HOME scale (including an interview to the mother) [47, 48]
(i) Dyads—scores at NCAFS and NCATS: HR<H Other measures: a strong association between NCAFS and risk status was reported
16 PT with RDS or IVH I and II (LR-PT) 12 FT, healthy (H-FT)
Other medical complications
At 12 months (CA)
-Toy-centered play interaction -Video recording: 10 min -At the laboratory -Coding of mother’s attention-directing and infant’s exploratory strategies [45]
-Infant—exploratory play in response to mother’s structured strategy: LR-PT>H-FT -Infant—exploratory play: HR-PT<H-FT, and LR-PT -Infant—exploratory play in response to unstructured versus structured strategies: H-FT>LR-PT, HR-PT -Infant—exploratory play in response to structured versus unstructured strategies: LR-PT>H-FT, HR-PT
123 PT with IVH I or II, transient RDS (LR-PT) 128 FT: healthy (H-FT)
Sensory impairments, meningitis, encephalitis, congenital abnormality of the brain
At 6 and 12 months (CA)
-Toy play session and naturalistic observation of daily activity -Live observation—10 min and 60 min -At home -Mixed rating scale and microanalytic coding system [45, 50]
(i) Daily activities and toy play at 6 and 12 months: Mother—interactive behaviors: HR-PT=LR-PT-H-FT Other measures: 6 months (i) MDI, daily living, receptive language: FT, LR-PT>HR-PT (ii) Expressive language: HR-PT<H-FT (iii) Positive correlation between mother attention maintaining behavior and infant mental age and receptive language score (during daily activity and toy play): HR-PT, LR-PT>H-FT (iv) Positive correlation between mother attention maintaining behavior and infant expressive language score (during daily living activity): HR-PT, LR-PT>H-FT (v) Positive correlation between mother—attention maintaining behavior and infant expressive language score (during toy play):HR-PT>LR-PT, H-FT
67 PT, was required IC (VPTIC) 75 PT, was required IC (PTIC) 66 FT, required IC (FTIC) IC, intensive care for CPAP or parenteral nutrition o severe asphyxia
70 FT, healthy (H-FT)
Chromosoml abnormalities and severe cerebral malformations.
At 2, 4, and 6 months (CA)
-Interaction during undressing of the infant and face-to-face situation -Video recording—variable time, 3 min -At the laboratory -Mother-infant interaction coding [52]
50 PT, BW < 1500 g, with neurobiological risk (defined by NBRS) (HR-PT)
Normative data
No congenital anomalies
Within the 6th month
-Interaction during feeding -Video recording—20 min -At home -NCAFS [47]
(i) Total feeding score: HR-PT<normative data (ii) Mother—interactive behaviors: HR-PT=normative data (iii) Infant—responsivity to caregiver: HR-PT<normative data Other measures: mothers who coped better had more responsive children at three months after discharge, according to the Coping Health Inventory for Parents [54]
-Mother-child toy-play interaction -Video recording: 10 minutes -Context not specified -CARE index [57]
(i) Mother—sensitivity: HR<LR<FT (ii) Infant—interactive behaviors: HR-PT=LR-PT-H-FT Other measures: Mother—posttraumatic stress symptoms: HR-PT>FT More stressed mothers were less sensitive and more controlling in dyadic play
79 PT, BW < 1500 g, and/or with IVH, PVL, SGA or required more than 28 days on mechanical ventilation (HR-PT)
35 FT, healthy (H-FT)
Not defined
At 3 months (CA)
-Interaction during diaper change and free play -Video recording—10 minutes -At the laboratory -Microanalytic coding system to rate early mother–child interaction [59]
-Infant-vocalize: HR-PT>H-FT -Infant-vocally responsive: HR-PT>H-FT -Infant—facially responsive: HR-PT<H-FT Mother—facially responsive: HR-PT<H-FT Other measures: The higher the neurobiological risk of the infant, the more mothers were judged to lack sensitivity
25 PT BW= 1700-1850 g, GA = 34-35 ws (LR-PT) 29 FT: GA >2500 g > 36 ws, (H-FT)
IVH III and IV, asphyxia, metabolic and genetic diseases.
At 3 months (CA)
-Face-to-face interaction -Video recording: 5 min -At home -Scoring with Monadic Phase Manual [61]
-Mother-infant synchrony: H-FT>HR-PT, LR-PT HR-PT=LR-PT -Mother-infant degree of synchrony (coherence): FT>LR-PT>HR-PT -Infant—negative emotionality: HR-PT, LR-PT>H-FT Other measures: Biological rhythm analysis revealed that sleep–wake cyclicity, vagal tone, orientation, and arousal modulation are each uniquely predictive of mother–infant synchrony at 3 months
Other measures: At 12 months, showed poorer cognitive development at MDI. scored significantly lower on orientation and motor maturity compared with other groups
-Interaction mother-infant father-infant, triadic interaction -Video recording: 5 min each -At home -Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB) Manual [63]
-Mother—intrusiveness: HR-PT>H-FT -Mother—sensitivity: HR-PT<H-FT -Infant—negative emotionality: HR-PT>H-FT -Dyad—reciprocity: HR-PT<H-FT Other measures: (i) Family cohesion: HR-PT<FT -Family rigidity: HR-PT>FT Mother of IUGR infants showed the highest intrusiveness scores and IUGR infants showed the highest negative emotionality. Family also showed the highest rigidity
-Free play mother-infant interaction (toy optional) -Video recording: 5 min -At the laboratory -PC-ERA [66]
-6 months: Infant—interactive behaviors: PT=H-FT Mother—interactive behaviors: PT=H-FT -12 months: Infant—quality of play and attention: PT<H-FT Infant-sober and withdrawn: PT<H-FT Mother—interactive behaviors: PT=H-FT Other measures: duration of holding at 5 months (CA) was positively associated with the good quality of mother–infant interaction at 6 and 12 months in PTPTs cried (combined fussing and crying) more often and were held more than H-FT
29 PT, BW: <1000 g (HR-PT) 40 PT, BW: <1500 g (PT)
80 FT healthy (H-FT)
Infant chromosomal abnormalities, CP, malformations and foetopathy
At 3 months (CA)
-Face-to-face interaction -Video recording: 5 min -At the laboratory -Global rating scale (GRS) [68]
-Mother—sensitivity: HR-PT=PT=H-FT -Mother—intrusiveness: HR-PT>H-FT -Mother—remoteness: PT, HR-PT<H-FT -Infant—interactive behaviors: HR-PT=PT=H-FT Other measures: In H-FT mothers, higher degree of remoteness was associated to the presence of depressive symptoms
Major cerebral damage, PVL, IVH > II grade, hydrocephalus
At 12 months (CA)
-Mother-child toy-play interaction -Video recording: 10 minutes -At the laboratory -R-RCS for dyadic coregulation and Lunkenheimer’s coding system for coding affective intensity [71, 72]
-Dyad—frequency of symmetric coregulation patterns: HR-PT<H-FT -Dyad—frequency of unilateral coregulation patterns: HR-PT>H-FT -Infant—emotional Involvement: HR-PT<H-FT -Mother—frequency of high positive affective intensity: HR-PT<H-FT Infant—frequency of neutral affective intensity: HR-PT>H-FT Infant—frequency of high positive affective intensity: HR-PT<H-FT Infant—frequency of low positive affective intensity: HR-PT>H-FT Infant—duration of neutral affective intensity: HR-PT>H-FT Infant—duration of high positive affective intensity: HR-PT<H-FT Infant—duration of low positive affective intensity: HR-PT<H-FT Infant—duration of neutral affective intensity: HR-PT>H-FT Infant—duration of low negative affective intensity: HR-PT>H-FT
Fair
AGA = appropriate for gestational age; BPD = bronchopulmonary dysplasia; BW = birth weight; CA = corrected age; CIB = coding interactive behavior; FT = full-term infant; GA = gestational age; H-FT = healthy full term; H-PT = healthy preterm; HOME = Home Observation Measurement of the Environment; HR-PT = high-risk preterm; IUGR = intrauterine growth retardation = IVH: intraventricular hemorrhage; LR-PT = low-risk preterm; MDI = Bayley Mental Developmental Index; NBAS = Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale; NBRS = Neurobiological Risk Score; NCAFS = Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale; NCATS = Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale; PC-ERA = Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment; PDI = Bayley Psychomotor Developmental Index; PT = preterm infant; PTIC = preterm who required intensive care; PVL = periventricular leukomalacia; RDS = respiratory distress syndrome; S-FT = sick full term; S-PT = sick preterm; SGA = small for gestational age; VPTIC = very preterm who required intensive care. Assessed through National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Quality Assessment Tool for Case-Control Studies [38].
