Infant arousal in an en-face exchange with a new partner: Effects of prematurity and perinatal biological risk

Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants of higher (n = 18) and lower (n = 29) perinatal biological risk were contrasted at 4 months adjusted age with hea lthy full-term infants (n = 32) in their arousal during a standardized peek aboo game with an examiner. VLBW infants showed less positive arousal, more negative arousal, and 3 mixtures of behavioral cues across the peekaboo ga me seldom seen for full-term infants-strong cues of both positive and negat ive arousal, strong cues of negative arousal alone, and no strong cues of e ither positive or negative arousal. Contrary to expectations, perinatal bio logical risk did not strongly predict variations in arousal within the VLBW group. Possible changes in how internal and external sources of arousal ar e integrated provide one explanation for the presence of strong relationshi ps between perinatal biological risk and social responsiveness near term ag e and their disappearance by 4 months of age.