Premium
Longitudinal changes in attachment patterns of preterm infants born in a non‐Western country
Author(s) -
Zengin Akkus P,
Bahtiyar Saygan B,
Ilter Bahadur E,
Ozdemir G,
Celik H T,
Ozmert E N
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.21906
Subject(s) - strange situation , developmental psychology , longitudinal study , attachment theory , psychology , anxiety , insecure attachment , affect (linguistics) , infant development , typically developing , maternal sensitivity , medicine , psychiatry , autism , communication , pathology
Unexpected early birth of an infant may affect the attachment formation of mother–child dyads. This longitudinal study aimed to explore mother–infant attachment patterns of very preterm (VPT) and preterm (PT) infants compared to their term‐born peers in a non‐Western country. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants, maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms, and sociodemographic features were evaluated to explore their effects on attachment. Eighteen VPT, 11 PT, 11 term infants and their mothers participated. Observations of attachment patterns and neurodevelopmental assessments were performed at 18 and 24 months of corrected age. This study identified a change in attachment patterns of VPT infants over time such that VPT infants tended to have less insecure attachment patterns with their mothers at the end of the infancy period. While motor and language development scores were associated with attachment patterns at 18 months, models predicting attachment patterns were no longer significant at 24 months. Therefore, change in VPT infants’ developmental outcomes and attachment patterns over time suggests that preterm birth itself is not necessarily a risk factor for developing insecure attachment patterns; yet, developmental delays may account for insecure attachment patterns. It is suggested that efforts to promote developmental outcomes of preterm infants may improve mother–child attachment.