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A randomized controlled trial study recruited 146 preterm born children, either to participate in a modified version of the Mother&ndash, Infant Transaction Program (MITP-m) or to receive the usual follow-up services, before and after discharge from a neonatal intensive care unit. This follow-up study investigates whether MITP participation is associated with parental perceptions of child temperament from two to seven years. Children&rsquo, s temperament was reported by mothers and fathers separately at children&rsquo, s ages of 2, 3, 5, and 7 years. Parents in the MITP-m group reported lower levels of negative emotionality in their children compared to the control group. In maternal reports, a group effect (F(1, 121) = 9.7, p = 0.002) revealed a stable difference in children&rsquo, s negative emotionality from two to seven years, while a group-by-time interaction related to an increasing difference was detected in reports from fathers (F(1, 94) = 4.8, p = 0.03). Another group difference appeared in fathers&rsquo, reports of children&rsquo, s soothability (F(1, 100) = 14.2, p &lt, 0.0005). MITP-m fathers seemed to perceive their children as easier to soothe at all ages as no interaction with time appeared. Parental reports on children&rsquo, s sociality, shyness, and activity did not differ between the groups.

Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway

The Troms&oslash, Intervention Study on Preterms (TISP) randomized 146 preterm-born children either to the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) or to a preterm control group. Previously, significant reductions of child behavior problems and maternal stress have been reported in the intervention group. This follow-up study examines whether the MITP may have affected the longitudinal adaptation between mothers and their children from two until nine years, expressed as associations between different behavioral problems and parenting stress reported by mothers. Associations between internalizing, attentional, and social problems and different dimensions of parenting stress were analyzed in separate models that included effects of time and group status. The MITP did not influence the development of longitudinal associations as no significant three-way interaction (stress*group*time) was found. Significant stress by group interactions was only found in reports on children&rsquo, s attentional problems when analyzed with parent- or interaction-related stress. Mothers who had participated in the MITP reported weaker stress&ndash, behavior associations than control mothers. This effect was moderated by two independent variables, namely children&rsquo, s birthweight and years of maternal education for the parent&ndash, child difficult interaction stress.

This study examined whether the Mother–Infant Transaction Program prevents behavioral problems among preterm children (birth weight

There is a need for standardized measures of infant temperament to strengthen current practices in prevention and early intervention. The present study provides Norwegian data on the Cameron-Rice Infant Temperament Questionnaire (CRITQ; J.R. CameronD.C. Rice, 1986a), which comprises 46 items and is used within a U.S. health maintenance organization. The CRITQ was filled out by mothers and fathers at 6 and again at 12 months as part of a longitudinal study of mental health during the first years of life (the "Little in Norway" study, N = 1,041 families enrolled; V. MoeL. Smith, 2010). Results showed that internal consistencies were comparable with U.S.The temperament dimensions of persistence, adaptability, and regularity had acceptable or close-to-acceptable reliabilities in the U.S. study as well as in this study, and also were unifactorial in confirmatory factor analysis. These dimensions are the focus in this article. Findings concerning parents' differential ratings of their infants on the three dimensions are reported, as is the stability of parents' ratings of temperament from 6 to 12 months. In addition, results on the relation between temperament and parenting stress are presented. The study suggests that temperamental adaptability, persistence, and regularity may be relevant when assessing infant behavior, and may be applied in systematic prevention trials for families with infants. The inclusion of concepts related to individual differences in response tendencies and regulatory efforts may broaden the understanding of parent-infant transactions, and thus enrich prevention and sensitizing interventions with the aim of assisting infants' development.

Research regarding highly intelligent adolescents in Scandinavia is scarce. We know little about highly intelligent adolescents’ experiences with the school-system and how they experience their social relationships and relationships with their teachers. We used survey and test data from approximately 16,000 respondents from the Norwegian Armed Forces to investigate reported math grades and their potential associations with gender, teacher relations, and social relations with peers. Furthermore, we explored whether intelligence moderated these associations. Intelligence and teacher relations were positively associated with math grades, social relations were negatively associated with math grades, and the association was more negative for students with higher intelligence scores. The association with gender was moderated by intelligence. Among the students with higher intelligence scores, girls reported higher math scores than boys. Intelligence did not moderate the association between teacher relations and math scores, indicating that the teacher relationship is the same across all levels of intelligence. The Associations Between Math Achievement and Perceived Relationships in School Among High Intelligent Versus Average Adolescents

Objective Examine the effect of an early intervention programme on cognitive outcome at 7 and 9 years in children with birth weight (BW)

Impairments in expressive and receptive language are common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, the importance of language assessment is emphasized in e.g. DSM-5. Thus, studies addressing the validity of different language measures are important. Parents and preschool teachers of 55 children diagnosed with childhood autism separately filled out the Communicative Development Inventory (CDI), a widely used report-based assessment of language. The children were also tested with the two standardized direct language tests: Reynell Developmental Language Scales (RDLS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Concurrent validity across the three measures was investigated. The results suggested very high agreement between the measures, and this was found regardless of whether parents or preschool teachers filled out the CDI. Given the difficulty in testing children with low language levels, as often is the case in young children with ASD, this study shows that several valid measures are available for measuring expressive and receptive language.

Parent reports such as MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) have been suggested as a measure of language in young children with autism since this group often score below base levels of direct tests. However, questions have been raised concerning the reliability of report-based assessments. Parents and preschool teachers filled out the CDI–Words & Gestures for 55 children diagnosed with autistic disorder. Inter-rater reliability analyses were done for the whole sample and a subgroup of minimally verbal children (n = 28). Further, potential over- or under-estimation, comparing the raters was analyzed. Results suggested excellent to fair inter-rater reliability between parent and preschool teacher. Parents tended to rate the children slightly higher than preschool teachers. However, the differences were small, and most likely due to contextual variations. These findings suggest that parents can be reliable sources of information about language abilities in children with autism. Therefore, when children are difficult to assess through direct tests, parent reports such as the CDI can be a good alternative.

OBJECTIVE: The goal was to examine the effectiveness of an early intervention on cognitive and motor outcomes at corrected ages of 3 and 5 years for children with birth weights (BWs) of METHODS: A randomized controlled trial of a modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program was performed. Outcomes were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised at 3 and 5 years, respectively. McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and the grooved pegboard test were used to test motor outcomes at 5 years. RESULTS: A total of 146 infants were assigned randomly (intervention group: 72 infants; control group: 74 infants). The mean BWs were 1396 ± 429 g for the intervention group and 1381 ± 436 g for the control group. After adjustment for maternal education, a nonsignificant difference in Mental Developmental Index scores at 3 years of 4.5 points (95% confidence interval: −0.3 to 9.3 points) in favor of the intervention group was found, whereas the intervention effect on full-scale IQ scores at 5 years was 6.4 points (95% confidence interval: 0.6–12.2 points). Significantly more children in the intervention group had IQ scores of ≥85 at 3 and 5 years. There were no differences between the groups with respect to motor outcomes. CONCLUSION: This modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program improved cognitive outcomes at corrected age of 5 years for children with BWs of

Mothers' reports of preterm and term infants' temperament from 6 to 12 months of age were studied, with intervention and stress as predictors. Preterm infants with a birth weight

Preterm infants are at increased risk of cognitive, motor and behavioral problems. Different intervention programs have been designed in an attempt to improve outcome, but the results are conflicting.To examine the effects of an early intervention program on cognitive, motor and behavioral problems and parenting stress among low birth weight children at 2 years corrected age.A randomized controlled trial was conducted including infants with a birth weight2000 g treated at the University Hospital of North Norway, to examine the effects of a modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program on cognitive, motor and behavioral outcomes and parenting stress. The children were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL) and the Parenting Stress Index were administered to the parents at 2 years corrected age.Sixty-nine children in the intervention group and 67 in the control group were assessed at 2 years. There were no differences between the groups in cognitive or motor outcomes. The intervention group scored consistently lower on all CBCL syndrome scales, but no difference was significant. The mothers in the intervention group reported significantly lower parental stress in both child and parent domain, whereas the fathers reported lower stress in child domain compared to the control group.This early intervention program does not improve cognitive, motor or behavioral outcomes at 2 years. There was a significant reduction in parenting stress reported by both mothers and fathers in the intervention group.

This study tested the effects of optimized neonatal mother–infant transactions on joint attention performance at 12 months. Surviving infants

Joint attention is a hallmark of human cognition. It refers to the capacity to coordinate attention to objects and events with attention to other people. Infants display considerable individual differences in this capacity. This longitudinal study of 13-month-old preterms was conducted to examine the hypothesis that two different types of joint-attention skills assessed in an infant–tester paradigm are related to verbal and nonverbal IQ measures through middle childhood. Data are reported separately for the children's tendency to initiate such skills and to respond to an experimenter's offers to share in such behaviours. The results provide support for the hypothesis that the initiation of joint attention makes a unique contribution to later nonverbal IQ apart from variance associated with biomedical risk status and infant development. The results of this study have implications for the conceptualisation of joint-attention skills, as well as for understanding the relation between joint attention and later cognition.

Background It is well documented that heightened levels of parenting stress have a negative influence on children’s socio-emotional and behavioral development. Parenting stress may therefore be regarded as an outcome variable in its own right. This study investigated whether a sensitizing intervention influences stress reported by parents of prematurely born children until the children were age nine. Methods Preterm infants (N =146, birth weight

This study investigated the predictive validity to 5 years of age of nonverbal communicative skills administered at 13 months. Subjects (N = 103) were Norwegian infants with birthweight below 1501 gms. The predictors included infant competence assessed by the Early Social-Communication Scales (ESCS). Cognitive competence at 2 years was measured by the Bayley Mental Development Scale, and at 3 and 5 years by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE). Language competence at 2 and 3 years was assessed by the Reynell Developmental Language Scales, and at 5 years by a verbal comprehension factor derived from the SB:FE. Partial correlations and multiple regression analyses suggest that the infants' initiation of communication was related to cognitive ability and language skills up to 5 years of age. In particular, joint attention was the most consistent predictor of the subsequent competencies. The Bayley cognitive index was overruled as a predictor when used in combination with initiation of joint attention.

This study examines the outcome at ages 2 and 3 years of very-low-birth-weight infants (N = 105) at double risk. Double risk was defined with reference to Fagan's model of intelligence. According to this model, cognitive-processing ability and culturally provided information produce knowledge. The Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence was used to assess processing ability, whereas parental socioeconomic status (SES) was used as an indicator of available information. Knowledge was measured by means of well-known psychometric tests of young children's abilities. Children at double risk were consistently delayed with respect to knowledge of intellectual skills and language as compared with children who were not at double risk. The data suggest that the assessment of processing ability and parental SES may provide a better foundation for detecting developmental delay than does a medical main-effect model. J Dev Behav Pediatr 15:7-13, 1994

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an early intervention program on behavioral outcomes at corrected age of 5 years for children with birth weights (BWs) of

Temperamental regulatory competence and social communication in term and preterm infants at 12 months corrected age was studied in a randomized controlled intervention trial aimed at enhancing maternal sensitive responsiveness. Surviving infants2000 g from a geographically defined area were randomized to an intervention (71) or a control group (69), and compared with term infants (74). The intervention was a modified version of the "Mother-Infant Transaction Program". Regulatory competence was measured with the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, and social communication with the Early Social Communication Scales. Preterm intervention infants with low regulatory competence had higher responding to joint attention than preterm control infants. A sensitizing intervention may moderate the association between temperament and social communication, and thus allow an alternative functional outlet for preterm infants low in regulatory competence. The finding may have implications for conceptualizations of the role of early sensitizing interventions in promoting important developmental outcomes for premature infants.

The background for this study was that nurturant child-rearing attitudes are associated with positive development in low birth weight (LBW) infants. The objective was to study child-rearing attitudes and early intervention (EI) in parents of LBW infants from 12-36 months corrected age. LBW infants (BW< 2000 g) were randomized to an intervention (IG) or a control group (CG). The EI consisted of seven in-hospital sessions prior to discharge, then four home visits. A Child Rearing Practices Report was administered at 12 (mothers only), 24 and 36 months. A total of 146 infants were randomized. The mean BW in IG was 1396 (SD 429) g and 1381 (436) g in CG. The mean GA was 30.2 (3.1) weeks in IG and 29.9 (3.5) weeks in CG. Mothers in IG reported significantly more nurturant child-rearing attitudes at 12 and 24 months. There was a significant change in restrictive and nurturant attitudes over time. It was concluded that EI may lead to more nurturant child-rearing attitudes in mothers of preterms.

The relationship between recall memory, visual recognition memory, social communication, and the emergence of language skills was measured in a longitudinal study. Thirty typically developing Swedish children were tested at 6, 9 and 14 months. The result showed that, in combination, visual recognition memory at 6 months, deferred imitation at 9 months and turn-taking skills at 14 months could explain 41% of the variance in the infants’ production of communicative gestures as measured by a Swedish variant of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). In this statistical model, deferred imitation stood out as the strongest predictor.

BACKGROUND. Preterm birth has been associated with increased parenting stress in early infancy, and some reports have found this to be a risk factor for later behavioral problems. There are, however, few studies and conflicting results. Information about the fathers is scarce.OBJECTIVES. Our goal was to study the effects of an early-intervention program on parenting stress after a preterm birth until 1 year corrected age.METHODS. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted including infants with a birth weight RESULTS. Seventy-one infants were included in the preterm intervention group, and 69 were included in the preterm control group. The preterm groups were well balanced. Seventy-four infants were included in the term control group. Compared with the preterm controls, both the mothers and fathers in the preterm intervention group reported significant lower scores in child domain, parent domain, and total stress on all occasions except the mother-reported child domain at 12 months. These differences were not related to birth weight or gestational age. The level of stress among the preterm intervention group was comparable to their term peers. Both parents in the intervention group reported consistently lower scores within the distractibility/hyperactivity, reinforces parents, competence, and attachment subscales compared with the preterm control group. There were no differences in mean summary stress scores between the mothers and fathers in the 2 preterm groups at 12 months, but the intraclass correlation coefficient was higher in the intervention group.CONCLUSIONS. This early-intervention program reduces parenting stress among both mothers and fathers of preterm infants to a level comparable to their term peers. We are now studying whether this will result in long-term beneficial effects.

Background and Aims: Prenatal inflammation and the fetal inflammatory response have been associated with preterm birth and subsequent neonatal lung and brain disorders. However, there is a paucity of information about the relation between prenatal infections and cognitive outcome in preterm children. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of prenatal inflammation on cognitive outcome at 5 years corrected age in low birthweight children.

Ulvund, S. E. 1981. The Psychological Basis for the Identification of Physical Environmental Parameters in the Development of Early Cognitive Competence. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 25,125‐140. A theoretical analysis focussing on the identification of physical environmental parameters in the development of early cognitive competence is presented. Referring to cognitive competence as a collective term of cognitive behavior as considered by Piaget (1952) and Hunt (1965), a theoretical frame of reference based on Brunswik's (1955) unit and Wohlwill's (1973) conceptions of the environment as a source of stimulation versus the environment as a context for behavior, is discussed. It is further suggested that different variants of the optimal stimulation hypothesis, combined with a transactional model of development (Sameroff, 1975a), form a highly relevant psychological basis for the identification of physical environmental parameters. Some implications for coming research are suggested.

The problem to what extent cognition and motivation in early infancy can be identified as two separate processes in operation is discussed. Based on published literature and previous research, it is p

Ulvund, S.E. 1982. Early Experience and the Development of Cognitive Competence: Some Theoretical and Methodological Issues. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 26, 45‐75. A theoretical analysis focussing on the relationship between early experience and the development of cognitive competence is given. It is argued that the interactionistic position known as a transactional model of development (Sameroff 1975a) is especially applicable to the problem of early experience. It is further suggested that the optimal stimulation hypothesis forms a relevant basis for the identification of some of the major issues related to the effects of early experience, and that particularly the enhancement prediction (Wachs 1977) seems to correspond closely to what is meant by a transactional model of development. In accordance with McCall (1977), Sameroff (1975a) and Wohlwill (1973b), it is held that one of the main implications of a transactional model of development is that research to a larger extent sh...

Infants' success in hiding tasks is influenced by the orientation of the cavities used as concealments. The infants (n=23, aged 11–13 months) performed better than chance when the cavities were upright, and worse than chance when they were inverted. This confirms and extends results by Freeman et al. (1980). Implications for the concept of object permanence are discussed.

The low predictive validity of infant tests is discussed in light of some current issues in developmental psychology. The main issues considered are continuity-discontinuity in the development of early cognitive-competence, the problem of intellectual heterogeneity, and the issue of individual-environment transactions. Some suggestions concerning how predictive validity may be increased are discussed, as well as the choice of criteria other than predictive validity for evaluating the usefulness of infant tests.

A longitudinal study of infants (n=23) from 6 to 13 months was made to explore infants' responses to objects high on complexity and responsiveness compared to low-scored ones, and whether the high-scored objects were preferred. Further, it was explored to what extent individual differences of the infants represent a source of variation. The results showed that more than 50% of the total variance was accounted for by differences in object qualities, and about 25% by individual differences. High-scored objects were significantly more often preferred compared to low-scored ones irrespective of age.