Early parenting, represented family relationships, and externalizing behavior problems in children born preterm

Abstract

Through assessment of 173 preterm infants and their mothers at hospital discharge and at 9, 16, 24, 36, and 72 months, the study examined early parenting, attachment security, effortful control, and children's representations of family relationships in relation to subsequent externalizing behavior problems. Less intrusive early parenting predicted more secure attachment, better effortful control skills, and fewer early behavior problems, although it did not directly relate to the structural or content characteristics of children's represented family relationships. Children with higher effortful control scores at 24 months had more coherent family representations at 36 months. Moreover, children who exhibited less avoidance in their family representations at 36 months had fewer mother-reported externalizing behavior problems at 72 months. The study suggests that early parenting quality and avoidance in children's represented relationships are important for the development of externalizing behavior problems in children born preterm.

Keywords: attachment; effortful control; family; preterm; relationships.

Figure 1

Hypothesized path model. Note. Covariates (not depicted) were gender, prematurity, cognitive skills and family sociodemographic assets.

Figure 2

Figure 2a: Significant Path Estimates for Model using ASCT-Coherence Figure 2b: Significant Path Estimates for Modes using ASCT-Avoidance