Maternal play behaviors, child negativity, and preterm or low birthweight toddlers' visual-spatial outcomes: testing a differential susceptibility hypothesis.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the joint roles of child negative emotionality and parenting in the visual-spatial development of toddlers born preterm or with low birthweights (PTLBW).


METHODS
Neonatal risk data were collected at hospital discharge, observer- and parent-rated child negative emotionality was assessed at 9-months postterm, and mother-initiated task changes and flexibility during play were observed during a dyadic play interaction at 16-months postterm. Abbreviated IQ scores, and verbal/nonverbal and visual-spatial processing data were collected at 24-months postterm.


RESULTS
Hierarchical regression analyses did not support our hypothesis that the visual-spatial processing of PTLBW toddlers with higher negative emotionality would be differentially susceptible to parenting behaviors during play. Instead, observer-rated distress and a negativity composite score were associated with less optimal visual-spatial processing when mothers were more flexible during the 16-month play interaction. Mother-initiated task changes did not interact with any of the negative emotionality variables to predict any of the 24-month neurocognitive outcomes, nor did maternal flexibility interact with mother-rated difficult temperament to predict the visual-spatial processing outcomes.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States. jedilworth@wisc.edu
Janean E
JE
Dilworth-Bart
Kyle E
KE
Miller
Amanda
A
Hane
D001831:Body Temperature; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010988:Play and Playthings; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*