LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT (LBW) INFANTS EXPLORATORY-BEHAVIOR AT 12 AND 24 MONTHS - EFFECTS OF INTRAVENTRICULAR HEMORRHAGE AND MOTHERS ATTENTION DIRECTING BEHAVIORS

Medically high-risk (HR), low birth weight (LBW) preterm infants (n = 11) with significant degrees of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) were seen at 12 and 24 months of age. This HR group was compared with a lo w-risk (LR) LBW preterm group (n = 16) with respiratory distress syndr ome or mild grades of IVH, and a normal full-term (FT) group (n = 12). Infants and their mothers were observed in a 10-min toy-centered play interaction to determine if more advanced exploratory play occurred i n association with specific maternal attention-directing behaviors. Re sults showed that the FT infants were able to respond with advanced ex ploratory play to unstructured as well as structured strategies, but t hat higher level play for the LR infants was associated with structure d strategies. The HR infants showed fewer play responses than the othe r two infant groups regardless of whether mothers used structured or u nstructured strategies. All infant groups showed more exploratory play behavior in relation to mothers' maintaining versus redirecting behav ior.