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Joint attention abilities in Brazilian preterm and full-term infants
Vera Mateus1, Elisangela Dos Anjos Paula Vieira2, Carla Martins3
1Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Developmental Disorders Graduate Program, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil.
Insights
Preterm infants show lower joint attention skills compared to full-term infants. Both groups improved responding to joint attention, but initiating joint attention remained stable for all infants.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Joint attention is crucial for social and cognitive development.
- Preterm birth may impact early social-communication skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare joint attention abilities in preterm and full-term Brazilian infants.
- To examine developmental changes in joint attention from 12 to 18 months corrected age.
Main Methods:
- Assessed joint attention behaviors (responding and initiating) at 12 and 18 months corrected age.
- Compared preterm and full-term infants using standardized assessments.
- Analyzed developmental trajectories for both groups.
Main Results:
- Preterm infants demonstrated significantly lower responding to joint attention bids.
- Both groups showed improvement in responding to joint attention over time.
- Initiating joint attention behaviors were comparable and stable across groups.
Conclusions:
- Preterm infants may experience delays in specific aspects of joint attention development.
- Developmental gains in responding to joint attention are observed in both groups.
- Initiating joint attention appears less affected by prematurity in this cohort.
Abstract:
Joint attention abilities of preterm and full-term Brazilian infants were assessed at 12- and 18-months, age corrected for prematurity. Results showed that preterm infants displayed significantly lower levels of correct responses to others' bids for joint attention at both time-points, compared to full-term infants. Both groups improved their responding to joint attention from 12 to 18 months of age. Contrastingly, prematurity did not impact infants' initiating joint attention behaviors, which remained stable over time for both groups. Findings were discussed in terms of the specific mental processes involved in distinct behavioural dimensions of joint attention.
