title: Early communicative behaviors and their relationship to motor skills in extremely preterm infants.
abstract: Despite the predictive value of early spontaneous communication for identifying risk for later language concerns, very little research has focused on these behaviors in extremely low-gestational-age infants (ELGA<28 weeks) or on their relationship with motor development. In this study, communicative behaviors (gestures, vocal utterances and their coordination) were evaluated during mother-infant play interactions in 20 ELGA infants and 20 full-term infants (FT) at 12 months (corrected age for ELGA infants). Relationships between gestures and motor skills, evaluated using the Bayley-III Scales were also examined. ELGA infants, compared with FT infants, showed less advanced communicative, motor, and cognitive skills. Giving and representational gestures were produced at a lower rate by ELGA infants. In addition, pointing gestures and words were produced by a lower percentage of ELGA infants. Significant positive correlations between gestures (pointing and representational gestures) and fine motor skills were found in the ELGA group. We discuss the relevance of examining spontaneous communicative behaviors and motor skills as potential indices of early development that may be useful for clinical assessment and intervention with ELGA infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Benassi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Savini
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: Jana M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Iverson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guarini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Caselli
authors.affiliation: Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alessandroni
authors.affiliation: Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faldella
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: alessandra.sansavini@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sansavini
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature / Q000254:growth & development / Q000523:psychology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009048:Motor Skills; D010699:Phonation; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology
keywords: 12-month-old infants; Extremely preterm birth; Gesture; Motor skills; Vocal production