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The association of infant temperament and maternal sensitivity in preterm and full-term infants

Suzanne M Vaccaro1, Davood Tofighi1, Natalia Moss1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Infant Mental Health Journal
|April 9, 2021
PubMed

Infants who experience sensitive caregiving are at lower risk for numerous adverse outcomes. This is especially true for infants born preterm, leading them to be more susceptible to risks associated with poorer quality caregiving. Some research suggests that preterm and full-term infants differ on temperament, which may contribute to these findings. This study aimed to investigate associations between infant temperament (negative emotionality, positive affectivity/surgency, and orienting/regulatory capacity) and maternal sensitivity among infants born preterm (M = 30.2 weeks) and full term. It was hypothesized that mothers of infants born preterm and mothers of infants with more difficult temperaments would display lower sensitivity, indicated by lower responsiveness to nondistress, lower positive regard, and higher intrusiveness. Videotaped play interactions and a measure of temperament (Infant Behavior Questionnaire) were coded for 18 preterm and 44 full-term infants at 9 months (corrected) age. Results suggest that mothers of preterm and full-term infants differed significantly in responding to their infants, but these results cannot be explained by infant temperament. Preterm status and sociodemographic risk emerged as correlates of maternal behavior, such that mothers of infants born preterm and mothers with greater sociodemographic risk displayed lower levels of maternal sensitivity.

Keywords:
Frühgeborenesinfant temperamentkindliches Temperamentmaternal sensitivitymütterliche Sensibilitätprematuropretermprématurésensibilidad maternasensibilité maternelletemperamento del infantetempérament du nourrissonالخدج، مزاج الرضيع، الحساسية الأمومية乳幼児の気質婴儿气质早产早期産母亲敏感性母親の応答性

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