Maternal preference between premature twins up to age four.
This paper describes methods of measuring a preference a mother develops for one twin over the other and describes the effect such preference has on the intellectual functioning and behavior of 24 twin pairs over 4 years. Results indicate that the majority of mothers develops a preference for one premature twin within 2 weeks after birth and maintains this preference for at least 4 years. The preferred twin has fewer behavior problems and a higher IQ at age 4. However, temperament is not correlated with preferential status.
Minde
K
K
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Corter
C
C
Goldberg
S
S
Jeffers
D
D
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004644:Emotions; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology*