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Does the development of executive functioning in infants born preterm benefit from maternal directiveness?
Eva van de Weijer-Bergsma1, Lex Wijnroks1, Ingrid C van Haastert2
1Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Early Human Development
|October 1, 2016
Summary
Maternal directiveness supports executive function development in preterm infants. Consistently directive parenting enhances early executive functioning, benefiting infants born preterm and informing intervention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neonatal Research
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Infants born preterm exhibit vulnerability to behavioral and learning problems.
- Early executive functioning deficits are linked to later developmental issues.
- Parenting behaviors can influence the risk trajectory of preterm infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the predictive role of maternal parenting behaviors on executive functioning development in preterm infants.
- To examine if infant temperament, specifically self-regulation, moderates this relationship.
- To understand the impact of maternal directiveness and sensitive responsiveness.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 76 preterm infants and their mothers.
- Maternal sensitive responsiveness and directiveness observed at 7, 10, and 14 months corrected age.
- Executive functioning assessed via the A-not-B task; infant self-regulation measured by the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R).
Main Results:
- Consistent maternal directiveness positively predicted enhanced A-not-B task performance in preterm infants.
- This effect was independent of infant self-regulation levels.
- Maternal sensitive responsiveness did not show a significant association with executive functioning development.
Conclusions:
- A consistently directive maternal approach may foster executive functioning development in preterm infants during the first year.
- Findings highlight the importance of specific parenting strategies in early intervention for preterm infants.
- Targeted parental guidance can support cognitive development in vulnerable populations.
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