A Longitudinal Study of Preterm Infants at 12 and 30 Months: Links Among Object Interactions, Joint Engagement, and Cognitive Development

Abstract

Development takes place when change in one domain cascades into change in another domain. Preterm infants exhibit disruptions to their object play and the maintenance of a joint focus of attention with another person. Likewise, they tend to experience cognitive delays throughout childhood. By the developmental cascades model, early features of object play and joint engagement in preterm infants predict cognitive development. We examined longitudinal associations between real-time individual differences in parent-infant interactions and long-term outcomes to explore potential developmental processes. Features of infant-object interactions and joint engagement were coded in 20 12-month-old preterm infants (≤ 29 weeks of gestation) during parent-infant free play. Infants were tested again at 30 months using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition. Preterm infants spent most of their time interacting with objects at 12 months, and their parents frequently engaged in their object interactions. The frequency of infant-object interaction bouts per minute at 12 months was negatively associated with 30-month cognitive scores. Furthermore, the percentage of infant-object interaction bouts in which parents practised multimodal engagement was marginally associated with 30-month cognitive scores. We discuss the associations of infant-object interactions and joint engagement with preterm infants' cognitive development.