Search

More than 10% of births are preterm, and the long-term consequences on sensory and semantic processing of non-linguistic information remain poorly understood. 17 very preterm-born children (born at < 33 weeks gestational age) and 15 full-term controls were tested at 10 years old with an auditory object recognition task, while 64-channel auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) were recorded. Sounds consisted of living (animal and human vocalizations) and manmade objects (e.g. household objects, instruments, and tools). Despite similar recognition behavior, AEPs strikingly differed between full-term and preterm children. Starting at 50ms post-stimulus onset, AEPs from preterm children differed topographically from their full-term counterparts. Over the 108-224ms post-stimulus period, full-term children showed stronger AEPs in response to living objects, whereas preterm born children showed the reverse pattern; i.e. stronger AEPs in response to manmade objects. Differential brain activity between semantic categories could reliably classify children according to their preterm status. Moreover, this opposing pattern of differential responses to semantic categories of sounds was also observed in source estimations within a network of occipital, temporal and frontal regions. This study highlights how early life experience in terms of preterm birth shapes sensory and object processing later on in life., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Very premature children (<33 weeks of gestational age (GA)) experience greater academic difficulties and have lower, though normal-range, intelligence quotients (IQs) versus their full-term peers. These differences are often attributed to GA or familial socio-economic status (SES). However, additional factors are increasingly recognized as likely contributors. Parental stress after a child's premature birth can present as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and can in turn reinforce difficulties in parent-child interaction pattern. Following a longitudinal design, we studied the interplay between a premature child's perinatal history and maternal PTSD symptoms on intelligence abilities assessed at 11 years of age. Thirty-three very preterm and 21 full-term mother-children dyads partook in the study. Children's perinatal risk was evaluated at hospital discharge, maternal PTSD symptoms were assessed when the children were 18 months old, and children's IQ was measured at 11 years old. IQ was significantly lower for preterm than full-term children, without reliable influences from perinatal risk scores. However, lower maternal PTSD symptoms predicted higher IQ in preterm children. This preliminary study highlights the importance detecting maternal PTSD symptoms after a preterm birth and suggests interventions should target reducing maternal PTSD symptoms during early childhood to enhance very preterm children's intelligence development.

Background: Very preterm (VPT) birth refers to an early stressful event putting children at heightened risk for emotional difficulties. However, there is an important individual variability, leaving unexplained why some VPT children do not develop emotional difficulties, while others develop such difficulties in the early years or later in life., Aim: In this study, we examined whether perinatal stress is a risk factor explaining heterogeneities in emotional problems in VPT children., Methods: Thirty-six VPT children and 22 full-term born (FT) children participated in an 11 year-long study. Risk for perinatal stress was assessed at birth with the Perinatal Risk Inventory. Mothers reported children's emotional difficulties at 18 months of child age on the Symptom Checklist and at 11 years on the Child Behavior Checklist., Results: Results indicated significant differences in emotional scores at 11 years not only between VPT and FT children but also between the low and high perinatal stress groups. More importantly, emotional scores at 18 months influenced variability in internalizing scores at 11 years only in VPT children with high perinatal stress., Conclusion: Although prematurity affects the emotional abilities of preadolescents, the link between emotional skills in early and later childhood is moderated by the severity of perinatal stress. In particular, VPT children who are born with more complications, and as such experience a more stressful perinatal environment, are more likely to show emotional difficulties at preadolescence., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the evolution of maternal representations (ie, the way parents perceive their child in term of temperament, character, behaviors, etc) of children with a cleft at 3 major milestones: before/after reconstructive surgeries and at school age. Parenting style was also analyzed and compared with parents of children born without a cleft., Design and Participants: The sample was composed of 30 mothers of children with an orofacial cleft and 14 mothers of children without a cleft. Maternal representations were assessed when the child was 2 months (before surgery), 12 months (after surgery), and 5 years of age (when starting school) using semistructured interviews that were transcribed and coded according to the subscales of the Working Model of the Child Interview and the Parental Development Interview . At the 5-year appointment, mothers also completed a questionnaire about parenting style., Results: Results showed no difference across groups (cleft/noncleft) in maternal representations at the 2-month, 12-month, and 5-year assessments. In the cleft group, significant differences were shown between 2 and 12 months in caregiving sensitivity, perceived infant difficulty, fear for the infant's safety, and parental pride, all factors being higher at 12 months. Those differences in parental representations over time were not found in the noncleft group. Additionally, mothers of the cleft group were significantly more authoritarian than mothers of children without a cleft., Conclusion: The absence of differences across cleft and noncleft groups suggests that having a child with a cleft does not affect maternal representations and emotions between 2 months and 5 years of the child's age. However, parenting style seems to be influenced by the presence of a cleft in the present sample.

Compared with full-terms, preterm individuals are more at risk from infancy to adulthood for developing internalizing symptoms. Early maternal interactive behavior, especially maternal sensitivity, has been found to be a resilience factor in the developmental outcome of preterm children. The present longitudinal study aimed at examining whether early interactive parenting behaviors have a long term impact on the internalizing symptoms of preterm-born young adolescents. A total sample of 36 very preterm and 22 full-term children participated in an 11-year follow-up study. Maternal interactive behavior was assessed during a mother-infant interaction when the infant was 18 months old. At 11 years, internalizing symptoms were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction between groups (preterm/full-term) and maternal sensitivity at 18 months significantly explained CBCL internalizing symptoms at 11 years (β = -0.526; p < 0.05). Specifically, although prematurity was related to internalizing problems, preterm children with higher maternal sensitivity did not differ from their full-term-born peers on the CBCL internalizing problems domain. These results suggest that maternal sensitivity is a long-term resilience factor preventing the development of internalizing problems at early adolescence in very preterm individuals.

Evaluations of evidence-based, easily accessible, psychological interventions to improve maternal mental health following very preterm birth are scarce. This study investigated the efficacy and acceptability of the expressive writing paradigm for mothers of very preterm infants. The level of maternal posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms was the primary outcome. Participants were 67 mothers of very preterm babies who were randomly allocated into the intervention (expressive writing; n = 33) or control group (treatment-as-usual; n = 32) when their infant was aged 3 months (corrected age, CA). Measurements were taken at 3 months (pre-intervention), 4 months (post-intervention), and 6 months CA (follow-up). Results showed reduced maternal posttraumatic stress (d = 0.42), depressive symptoms (d = 0.67), and an improved mental health status (d = 1.20) in the intervention group, which were maintained at follow-up. Expressive writing is a brief, cost-effective, and acceptable therapeutic approach that could be offered as part of the NICU care.

Preterm birth may represent a traumatic situation for both parents and a stressful situation for the infant, potentially leading to difficulties in mother-infant relationships. This study aimed to investigate the impact of an early intervention on maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms, and on the quality of mother-infant interactions, in a sample of very preterm infants and their mothers. Half of the very preterm infants involved in the study (n=26) were randomly assigned to a 3-step early intervention program (at 33 and 42 weeks after conception and at 4 months' corrected age). Both groups of preterm infants (with and without intervention) were compared to a group of full-term infants. The impact of the intervention on maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms was assessed 42 weeks after conception and when the infants were 4 and 12 months of age. The impact of the intervention on the quality of mother-infant interactions was assessed when the infants were 4 months old. Results showed a lowering of mothers' posttraumatic stress symptoms between 42 weeks and 12 months in the group of preterm infants who received the intervention. Moreover, an enhancement in maternal sensitivity and infant cooperation during interactions was found at 4 months in the group with intervention. In the case of a preterm birth, an early intervention aimed at enhancing the quality of the mother-infant relationship can help to alleviate maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms and may have a positive impact on the quality of mother-infant interactions., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Preterm infants experience intense stress during the perinatal period because they endure painful and intense medical procedures. Repeated activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis during this period may have long-term effects on subsequent cortisol regulation. A premature delivery may also be intensely stressful for the parents, and they may develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Usable saliva samples were collected (4 times per day over 2 days, in the morning at awakening, at midday, in the afternoon, and in the evening before going to bed) to assess the diurnal cortisol regulation from 46 preterm infants when the infants were 12 months of corrected age (∼ 14 months after birth). Mothers reported their level of PTSD symptoms. The results showed an interaction between perinatal stress and maternal traumatic stress on the diurnal cortisol slope of preterm infants (R(2) = .32). This suggests that the HPA axis of preterm infants exposed to high perinatal stress may be more sensitive to subsequent environmental stress., (Copyright © 2014 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.)

Previous studies have found that mothers of very preterm infants often report symptoms of posttraumatic stress, which has been related to cortisol dysregulation. However, the exact nature of this association is not clear and can be different regarding the predominance of some specific symptoms of posttraumatic stress, as suggested by a recent model. The objective of the present study is to assess the association between diurnal salivary cortisol and posttraumatic stress symptoms in mothers of very preterm infants. Seventy-four mothers of very preterm infants were included in the study. Mothers' cortisol regulation and posttraumatic stress symptoms were evaluated 12 months after child theoretical term (40 weeks of gestation). Results showed an association between higher re-experiencing symptoms and flatter cortisol slopes. These results may help to understand differences found in studies assessing the relation between severity of posttraumatic stress and cortisol levels, by supporting the symptoms' theory., (Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objective : The main objective of this study was to assess mother-child patterns of interaction in relation to later quality of attachment in a group of children with an orofacial cleft compared with children without cleft. Design : Families were contacted when the child was 2 months old for a direct assessment of mother-child interaction and then at 12 months for a direct assessment of the child's attachment. Data concerning socioeconomical information and posttraumatic stress symptoms in mothers were collected at the first appointment. Participants : Forty families of children with a cleft and 45 families of children without cleft were included in the study. Families were recruited at birth in the University Hospital of Lausanne. Results : Results showed that children with a cleft were more difficult and less cooperative during interaction at 2 months of age with their mother compared with children without a cleft. No significant differences were found in mothers or in dyadic interactive styles. Concerning the child's attachment at 12 months old, no differences were found in attachment security. However, secure children with a cleft were significantly more avoidant with their mother during the reunion episodes than secure children without cleft. Conclusion : Despite the facial disfigurement and the stress engendered by treatment during the first months of the infant's life, children with cleft and their mothers are doing as well as families without cleft with regard to the mothers' mental health, mother-child relationships, and later quality of attachment. A potential contribution for this absence of difference may be the pluridisciplinary support that families of children with cleft benefit from in Lausanne.

Objective: The announcement, prenatally or at birth, of a cleft lip and/or palate represents a challenge for the parents. The purpose of this study is to identify parental working internal models of the child (parental representations of the child and relationship in the context of attachment theory) and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in mothers of infants born with a cleft., Method: The study compares mothers with a child born with a cleft (n  =  22) and mothers with a healthy infant (n  =  36)., Results: The study shows that mothers of infants with a cleft more often experience insecure parental working internal models of the child and more posttraumatic stress symptoms than mothers of the control group. It is interesting that the severity or complexity of the cleft is not related to parental representations and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The maternal emotional involvement, as expressed in maternal attachment representations, is higher in mothers of children with a cleft who had especially high posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, as compared with mothers of children with a cleft having fewer posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms., Discussion: Mothers of children with a cleft may benefit from supportive therapy regarding parent-child attachment, even when they express low posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.