EFFECTS OF MATERNAL SCAFFOLDING DURING JOINT TOY PLAY WITH PRETERM AND FULL-TERM INFANTS

Six-month-old, Cull-term infants (n = 49) and medically high-risk (n = 37) and low-risk (n = 42) preterm infants were observed in toy-center ed interactions with their mothers. The conditional probability of inf ants increasing in the complexity of their play when mothers maintaine d their attention or introduced toys, rather than redirected their att ention, was greater for the high-risk infants than for the other two i nfant groups. All infants were more likely to increase their level of play if mothers used structured strategies, rather than simply orienti ng their attention to the toys. Parenting attitudes (e.g., concepts of childrearing and attitudes of warmth) related to their use of facilit ative attention-directing behaviors, particularly for mothers of the h igh-risk infants.