NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents of very preterm infants can enhance their child's development with positive, sensitive caregiving, a new study shows. In particular, "parent-child synchrony" has a strong influence on cognitive, social, and emotional development during the infant's first 2 years of life.

Parent-child synchrony refers to the ability to share and match each other's mood and behavior, which provides the children a secure base from which they can "explore their environment, grow, and develop," Dr. Karli Treyvaud, at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Victoria, Australia, and co-authors explain in the journal Pediatrics.

The research team assessed parenting behaviors that counter the high risk for neurodevelopment impairment faced by infants born before 30 weeks' gestation or who weighed less than 2.8 pounds (1250 g) at birth. The team studied 152 very preterm children at 2 years old, with the age adjusted to correct for prematurity, and their parents or guardians.

The evaluation included a semi-structured parent-child interaction task used to assess synchrony and other parenting behaviors, such as positive and negative moods and sensitivity. Standardized tests were used to measure cognitive, psychomotor and social-emotional development.

Regression analysis highlighted the importance of synchronicity in the interactions between parent and child, which the authors suggest "helps to introduce children to the use of symbolic representations as well a self-regulatory experiences, both of which are important building blocks of cognitive and social-emotional development."

The results also showed that early cognitive development was positively influenced by "warm, positive, sensitive, and facilitative parenting."

Treyvaud's group concludes that parents of very preterm infants can be reassured that they can enhance their child's development, and that they "should be encouraged to smile, laugh, and try to sensitively and responsively share eye contact and the same emotional state with their very preterm child to promote optimal outcomes for their child."

SOURCE: Pediatrics, February 2009.

• More News on Parenting
• More News on Premature Babies

Related MedlinePlus Pages:

• Parenting
• Premature Babies