Does An Early Intervention Influence Behavioral Development Until Age 9 in Children Born Prematurely?

Abstract

This study examined whether the Mother-Infant Transaction Program prevents behavioral problems among preterm children (birth weight < 2000 g) until age 9. The program was administered to 72 preterms, while 74 preterms and 75 full-terms formed control groups (N = 221). Behavior was reported by parents (Child Behavior Checklist) and teachers (Teachers Report Form) and by all on selected Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) questions. Long-term behavioral development appeared to be qualitatively unaffected by the intervention. At ages 7 and 9, fewer attention problems and better adaptation to school were reported from parents and teachers of the intervention group compared to preterm controls. At age 9, teachers reported fewer difficulties in the intervention group and better academic performance. In these areas they were reported as being at the statistically same level as term controls.

Temperamental Development among Preterm Born Children. An RCT Follow-Up Study

“…Participation in the MITP-m is associated with parents' perception of decreased emotionality and, for fathers, increased soothability from two to seven years for very preterm born children. This may be one of the transactional mechanisms behind the long-term positive socio-emotional and behavioral outcomes previously reported from this study [35,43]. Further research in this field should include measures of child temperament.…”

“…Power calculations were based on a focus on cognitive outcomes at age two [41], but retrospective power calculations for this RCT follow-up study were not performed. A complete diagram showing the flow of participants through each stage of the study has previously been published [35,41,43] and is available here as additional online information. Families in both groups received services in line with the NICU guidelines for discharge and follow-up of patients.…”

Erfaringer fra lærings- og mestringskurs for foreldre til premature barn

“…Med sensitivering forstår man en større oppmerksomhet rundt premature barns signaler, hvordan de uttrykker seg og hvordan den voksne responderer (Slinning, Hansen, Moe og Smith 2010). Nyere norsk forskning rapporterer at tidlig intervensjon og foreldreveiledning reduserer stress hos foreldre til premature barn i tillegg til å bedre barnas skoleprestasjoner (Landsem et al 2014, Landsem et al 2015. Denne forskningen baserer seg på implementering av en strukturert foreldreopplaering, Prematurprosjektet 2000 (Tunby 2003).…”

“…Behovet kan også gjelde foreldre til barn født etter uke 30 (Rowe og Jones, 2010). Nyere forskning kan tyde på at foreldrekurs i den form som er beskrevet her ikke er tilstrekkelig for en optimal oppfølging av barna og familien (Landsem et al 2014, Landsem et al 2015og Nordhov et al2010). …”

Early intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina- a description of a model implemented in Zenica-Doboj Canton

“…For example, Dawson, et al (2010) have found substantial benefits of EI for children with autism in the area of cognitive development and adaptive behavior. Besides intellectual and adaptive behavior benefits, EI has positive effects on language, behavior and socio-emotional development (Roberts & Kaiser, 2015;Landsem et al, 2015).…”