Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Prematurity stereotyping and mothers' interactions with their premature and full-term infants during the first year
Marilyn Stern1, Katherine Karraker, Bonnie McIntosh
1Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA. mstern@vcu.edu
Objective:
To longitudinally assess stability and correlates of prematurity stereotyping and perceptions of infant vulnerability in mothers of premature (N = 56) and full-term (N = 59) infants.
Method:
At 5, 9, and 12 months, mothers rated videotapes of unfamiliar infants with a full-term label (FTL) or a preterm label (PL), interacted with their own infant, and completed other questionnaires. A subgroup of infants were administered a developmental assessment at 32 months.
Results:
Mothers rated PL infants more negatively than FTL infants at each age. Individual differences in stereotyping were not stable. Mothers who negatively rated infants labeled with the same birth status of their own infants exhibited more negative interactive behaviors with their infants. Mothers who viewed their own infant as more vulnerable and who showed more prematurity stereotyping at 5 months had infants with lower 32-month mental scores.
Conclusions:
The results suggest an association between early maternal cognitions and both contemporaneous maternal behavior and later child developmental outcomes.
More Related Videos
07:36Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats
Published on: November 20, 2015
11:50Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Teratogenicity
Attachment
Development of the Oral Microbiota