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At-risk toddlers and their mothers: the special case of physical handicap
Insights
Toddlers with physical anomalies or premature birth show developmental delays in social initiative, play, and language. Maternal interactions differ, with mothers of these children being more directive and less responsive.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Medicine
- Child Development
Background:
- Previous research on school-aged children with physical handicaps noted passivity and cognitive-linguistic deficits.
- These deficits were sometimes attributed to parent-child interaction problems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the functioning of toddlers with physical anomalies compared to premature toddlers and normal toddlers.
- To investigate early developmental patterns in toddlers with physical anomalies, controlling for central nervous system damage.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 14 mother-child pairs in each of three groups: physical anomalies, premature birth, and normal development.
- Videotaping of mother-child interactions at 9, 12, 18, and 24 months across various semistructured situations.
- Assessment of social initiative, focused play, language production, distractibility, compliance, separation behavior, and 2-year IQ.
Main Results:
- Both premature and handicapped toddlers exhibited poorer performance in social initiative, focused play, language production, and 2-year IQ.
- Handicapped toddlers displayed increased distractibility, decreased compliance, and reluctance to separate from mothers.
- Mothers of premature and handicapped toddlers were more initiating and less responsive than control mothers; mothers of handicapped children also encouraged and ignored their toddlers more.
Conclusions:
- Developmental patterns observed in older children with physical handicaps are also present in toddlers.
- Maternal interaction patterns may represent compensatory "lower-limit" effects, supporting Bell's model.
- Early identification and intervention focusing on both child development and maternal interaction are crucial for children with physical anomalies and premature birth.
Abstract:
Previous studies of school-aged children with physical handicaps indicate passivity, inhibition, and deficits in cognitive-linguistic functioning, sometimes interpreted as consequent to parent-child problems. The present study examined the functioning of toddlers with physical anomalies (but without CNS damage) in comparison to premature toddlers (who share deviant early experience but not deviant physical appearance) and to normal toddlers. 14 mother-child pairs in each group were videotaped at 9, 12, 18, and 24 months in a variety of semistructured situations. Both premature and handicapped toddlers performed more poorly in measures of social initiative, focused play, language production, and 2-year IQ. In addition, handicapped toddlers manifested increased distractibility, decreased compliance, and reluctance to separate from their mothers. Mothers of both prematures and handicapped toddlers were more initiating and less responsive than controls, while mothers of handicapped children were also more likely to both encourage and ignore their toddlers. Patterns previously reported for older children are therefore found here with toddlers. Maternal patterns are interpreted as supporting Bell's model of compensatory "lower-limit" effects.