Parenting Preterm Children: Emotional Availability At Preschool Age

Abstract

Prematurity is a particular challenge for parents that severely affects the interaction and relationship dynamics between children and their caregivers. Previous studies mostly focused on the infancy of preterms but did not examine the development process. This study highlights whether preterm children and their main caregivers still differ in their emotional availability (EA) at preschool age. Caregiver-child interactions during the transition period of school entry were measured with the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS). N = 25 preterm (25–33 weeks of gestation) and n = 23 term children at an age of 5 years and their main caregivers were observed while playing a construction game that was eliciting either a low or moderate stress level. Caregivers of preterm children showed higher intrusiveness scores compared to caregivers of term dyads. Thus, it seems that parents of preterm children behave intrusively independently of their children's cognitive performance.