PROGRAM RANE INTERVENCIJE NAMENJEN RODITELJIMA PREVREMENO RODENE DECE”(EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM FOR PARENTS OF PREMATURE INFANTS. EFFECTS OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT IN THE FIRST WEEKS OF LIFE ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT AT 6 AND 12 MONTHS)

Low birth weight preterm children are at-risk for developmental difficulties, cognitive and emotional disabilities. An intervention program, aimed to ameliorate parents–infant communication, involved 11 low birth weight infants, without birth complications, from low socio-cultural level families. The intervention consisted in: 1) psychological support to improve parents’ communication and caregiving during the first weeks of life; 2) follow-up assessment at 6 months on the parent-infant interaction; 3) follow-up assessment at 12/18 months on the Mother-Infant attachment. The general hypothesis was that ameliorating the quality of parents-newborn interaction in the first weeks of life, especially reinforcing the imitation, could predispose the newborn to develop a secure attachment bond. The mother-infant communication improved in all cases at first step, but only 3/11 children were secure-attached at 12/18 months. The same three children had the father regularly attending the encounters, supporting the mothers, thus indicating a good quality in the marital relationship. Early parent-infant communication can be improved with a psychological support, but the quality of the marital relationship seems to be more related to a long-term effect represented by the secure attachment.