P. Garner, S. Landry
1994
Citations
0
Influential Citations
22
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Infant Behavior & Development
Abstract
Abstract Six-month-old, high-risk (HR) preterm (n = 33), low risk (LR) preterm (n = 40), and full-term (FT) (n = 44) infants were observed during a 5-min joint attention play situation with their mothers. The frequency with which the infants displayed smiles, high interest, low interest, and distress was recorded as well as the frequency of specific types of attention-directing strategies used by their mothers. Results indicated that the HR infants displayed fewer smiles than the other two infant groups. Differential relations were also found among the maternal attention- directing strategies and the affect measures for each of the three infant groups. In general, the frequency with which mothers attempted to maintain their infants' interest in a toy was positively associated with increased displays of positive affect for the two preterm groups. Mothers' use of strategies that introduced their infants' attention to toys was associated with low-interest displays for the HR group. For the FT infants, low interest was predicted by mothers' use of strategies that attempted to redirect their attention from one toy to another.