Browsing by Author "Hiekkavuo, Eeva"

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the language skills and the emotional availability of the mother and the child in 2-year-old very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) children. Also the possible differences of this relationship between the preterm children and the comparison group were evaluated. Earlier studies have shown that mother’s sensitivity and structuring in the early interaction are associated with better language skills of the children. The connection seems to be stronger in children younger than 2 years. The connection of the language skills and the emotional availability of the mother and the child has not been studied before with 2-year-old VLBW children. This study is part of the Development and Functioning of Very Low Birth Weight Infants from Infancy to School Age study ( PIPARI study). Methods Participants were 20 (10 girls and 10 boys) Finnish very-low-birth-weight (birth weight ≤1500 g and/or born < 32 gestational weeks) singletons and 20 (10 girls and 10 boys) full term (> 37 gestational weeks) singletons. The language skills of the children were examined at 2 years of age using Reynell Developmental Language Scales III and MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. The early interaction of the mother and the child was evaluated with Emotional Availability Scales at the same time point. Conclusions There was no association between the language skills of the VLBW children and the emotional availability of the mother and the child at 2 years of age. With full term children, the receptive language and the involvement of the child were significantly related to each other. The level of the emotional availability was good across both groups, so the interaction between low emotional availability and children´s language skills could not be examined. More research regarding the language skills and the emotional availability of VLBW children is needed.