Parental bonding after preterm birth: child and parent perspectives in the Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether parenting behavior recalled by very low birth weight (VLBW) adults or their parents differs from that of term-born control subjects or their parents.


METHODS
A total of 164 VLBW and 172 control adults (mean age 22.5 years, SD 2.2) assessed retrospectively the parenting behavior of their parents by the Parental Bonding Instrument, which includes dimensions of care, protectiveness, and authoritarianism. A subgroup of 190 mothers and 154 fathers assessed their own parenting behavior by the Parent Behavior Inventory, which includes dimensions of supportive and hostile parenting.


RESULTS
The VLBW women assessed their mothers as more protective and authoritarian than the control women. The VLBW and control men did not differ from each other. Both mothers and fathers of the VLBW adults assessed their own parenting as more supportive than those of the control subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
Preterm birth at VLBW may promote a more protective, as well as more supportive, parenting style.
Pyhälä
Riikka
R
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Räikkönen
Katri
K
Pesonen
Anu-Katriina
AK
Heinonen
Kati
K
Lahti
Jari
J
Hovi
Petteri
P
Strang-Karlsson
Sonja
S
Andersson
Sture
S
Eriksson
Johan G
JG
Järvenpää
Anna-Liisa
AL
Kajantie
Eero
E
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors