DYADIC PROCESSES BETWEEN MOTHERS AND PRETERM INFANTS - DEVELOPMENT ATAGES 2 TO 5 YEARS

In order to identify antecedents to cognitive, language, and social co mpetence from 2 to 5 years of age in preterm children at biological an d social risk, this study used multiple procedures, administered in th e laboratory, at 13 and 20 months, to measure components of the social interactions between 51 mothers and their preterm infants. Two variab les, maternal responsiveness to infant vocalization and infant irritab ility, were found to be significant predictors of later competence. Wh ereas greater maternal responsiveness, as expected, led to increased l anguage and social skills, greater infant irritability during stressfu l situations also foretold later increased competence in expressive an d receptive language and social cognition. Children born at higher bir thweights and with longer gestations were more likely to be more irrit able than those born at very low birthweights. The findings suggest di fferent implications for negative affect in preterms who have experien ced respiratory distress as contrasted to full-term children, but indi cate similar positive consequences for maternal verbal responsiveness.