Attachment, self-esteem, and psychomotor development in extremely premature children at preschool age

The aim of the study was to evaluate concomitantly self-esteem and model of attachment to the mother in extremely premature (24-28 weeks of gestation) and full-term children, in relation to the child's variables (neonatal con dition, gender, cognitive development) and family variables (family adversi ty, socioeconomic status). Forty-two extremely premature and 27 fullterm ch ildren were assessed at 5 years 9 months. For the premature children, neona tal status and developmental quotient (DQ) at 18 months were also obtained. Premature and fullterm children did not differ in attachment and self-este em categories. Far all subjects, IQ at 5 years 9 months differed significan tly across self-esteem categories. Seventy percent of premature children wh o showed a decrease in IQ from 18 months to 5 years 9 months had a negative self-esteem. In the premature group, DQ at 18 months was lower for the chi ldren that were categorized at 5 years 9 months with nonsecure attachment t o the mother. Attachment appeared sensitive to early neuromotor impairments , and self-esteem to the developmental level at the time of the evaluation.