Mother–infant interactions with infants with congenital visual impairment and associations with longitudinal outcomes in cognition and language

Abstract

Background: This study investigated mother-infant interactions, including maternal maintaining of infant attentional focus and sensitivity, with infants with congenital severe and profound visual impairment (VI) and the association with developmental trajectories from one to three years. Method: Fifty-five infants and mothers were video-recorded playing together with a standard set of toys at Time 1 (T1) mean age 12.95 months (8.13-17.05 months). Maintain was categorized as the mother following and maintaining the child's focus, and Sensitivity, the mother's responsiveness and contingency to infant behaviour. Vision level was measured using the Near Detection Scale. Cognition and language were measured at T1, 12 months later (T2) and 24 months later (T3) using the Reynell-Zinkin Scales. Results: Cross-sectional analyses showed that mothers of infants with severe VI (basic form vision) produced higher rates of Maintain compared to those with children with profound VI (light perception at best). Linear mixed-effects models examining developmental progression from T1 to T3 (controlling for vision level) showed an average increase of 5 DQ points (CI 95%: 1.03-9.08) in verbal comprehension for higher Sensitivity. No significant findings were found for Maintain. Conclusions: The findings suggest that mother-infant interactions (maternal Maintain) are associated with level of vision at infancy, but only maternal Sensitivity has a long-term positive association with advances in verbal comprehension from infancy to about three years. They highlight the need for incorporating strategies related to parent-infant interactions, including increased sensitivity, into early intervention for children with visual impairment.

For happy children with a visual or visual-and-intellectual disability: Efficacy research to promote sensitive caregiving with the Barti-mat

“…These results are important findings for caregivers with children with visual or visual-andintellectual disabilities, especially as mirroring behaviour is often difficult due to the relationship dynamics within the dyad (Sakkalou et al, 2021). Using the Barti-mat as a natural catalyst for improving mirroring behaviour which, as a sub-feature of sensitive and responsive behaviour, is critical as mirroring is thought to be the primary mechanism influencing the quality of the caregiver-child relationship (Feniger-Schaal & Joels, 2018).…”

“…Miscommunication hinders the quality of social interactions between caregivers and children with visual or visual-and-intellectual disabilities (Sakkalou et al, 2021). Technology facilitates social interaction for people with disabilities (Bakkum et al, 2021; Dyzel et al, 2020).…”

“…The nature and structure of caregiver–child relationships of children with visual or visual-and-intellectual disabilities varies significantly from that of sighted children. Children with visual or visual-and-intellectual disabilities are more dependent on their caregivers, which can lead to a more directive and controlling caregiver interaction style (Sakkalou et al, 2021). As a result, relationship play opportunities in which a child takes the lead in exploring their environment are decreased, which in turn reduces chances of a caregiver accurately mirroring and responding sensitively (Sakkalou et al, 2021; Van den Broek et al, 2017).…”

Case report: Dancing in the dark: A critical single case study engaging a blind father in the rehabilitation journey of his visually impaired child

“…Previous research has highlighted that parents and children with visual impairment may experience specific barriers and challenges in achieving reciprocally satisfaction and attunement in daily interactions (Grumi et al, 2021 ). Parents' understanding of the child social cues may be partially impeded and the child may present deficiencies in the ability to engage and contingently respond to parents' requests and proposals (Sakkalou et al, 2021 ). At the same time, it is well-known that parenting represents the large majority of the caregiving environment and even when the child presents visual impairment parents can succeed in providing appropriate support to their child to achieve exploration, cognitive, and emotional milestones (Dale and Salt, 2007 ; Dale et al, 2019 ).…”

Multidimensional Family-Centred Early Intervention in Children with Hearing Loss: A Conceptual Model

“…Chronic otitis media with effusion, for instance, not timely recognised and treated, affects audibility and, thus, parent–child interaction [ 177 , 178 ]. Unrecognised visual impairment directly affects parent–child interaction [ 179 ]. Untreated epileptic seizures may impact cognitive and language development and affect parent–child interaction [ 180 ].…”