Parent-Infant Interactions Among Infants With High Risk of Cerebral Palsy: A Protocol for an Observational Study of
Katrine Røhder1,2, Maria Willerslev-Olsen2,3, Jens Bo Nielsen2,3
1Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Insights
Infants at high risk for Cerebral Palsy (CP) show altered parent-infant interactions. Parental mental health and infant capacities mediate this, informing early interventions for at-risk families.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Infants at high risk for Cerebral Palsy (CP) may exhibit reduced interactional engagement.
- Parents of high-risk infants may experience mental health challenges and altered child representations, impacting parental sensitivity.
- Current early intervention guidelines for CP risk emphasize parental sensitivity and interaction, yet require further research on influencing factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess early parent-infant interaction quality in high-risk versus low-risk infants.
- To explore how infant interactional capacities, parental mental health, and parental child representations mediate the association between CP risk and interaction quality.
- To inform adaptations of parenting programs for families with infants at high risk of CP.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, longitudinal study design.
- Follow-up of high-risk CP infants and a control group from 15 weeks to 15 months corrected infant age (CA).
- Utilized infant developmental assessments, parent questionnaires/interviews, and video-recorded parent-infant interaction ratings.
Main Results:
- Results pending further analysis; study aims to identify mediating factors.
- Anticipates identifying specific infant and parental factors influencing parent-infant interactions in CP risk contexts.
- Will provide insights into the mechanisms linking perinatal neurological risk to interactional outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Study findings will deepen understanding of parent-infant interactions affected by perinatal neurological risk.
- Results will aid in developing targeted early screening and psychological interventions for families with high-risk infants.
- Knowledge gained can inform neurohabilitation programs by integrating support for parent-infant dyadic functioning.
Abstract:
Background: An early diagnosis of chronic disability, such as risk of Cerebral Palsy (CP), is likely to affect the quality of parent-infant interactions by affecting both infant and parental factors. Due to adverse perinatal events, infants at high risk of CP may exhibit less engagement in interactions, while parents may experience increased mental health problems and disrupted parental representations that can have a negative effect on parental sensitivity. Recent clinical guidelines on early intervention among families with infants at risk of CP recommends supporting parental sensitivity and mutual enjoyable interactions more research is needed to inform such interventions. This includes understanding how infant and parental risk as well as resilience factors impact parent-infant interactions and how existing parenting programs developed among typical developing infants should be adapted to families with infants at risk of CP. In addition, as majority of research on infant neurohabilitation focus on improving motor and cognitive outcomes research on infant emotional development is needed. The study aim is to assess the quality of early parent-infant interactions in families with high-risk infants, compared to families with low-risk infants, and to explore how interaction quality is affected by infant and parental factors. Three potential mediating factors explaining the association between CP risk and less optimal parent-infant interactions will be explored: infant interactional capacities, parental mental health and well-being, and parents' representations of their child. Methods: The prospective, longitudinal design will follow infants at high risk for CP and their parents and a control group at three time points from 15 weeks to 15 months corrected infant age (CA). Measures comprise infant developmental assessments, questionnaires and interviews with both parents, and global ratings of video-recorded parent-infant interactions. Discussion: Study results will enhance our understanding of how parent-infant interactions may be affected by perinatal neurological risk and identify potential important mechanisms for observed associations. This knowledge could assist in planning future early screening and intervention programs and identifying families who should be offered targeted psychological interventions in addition to neurohabilitation programs.
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