Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 23;17(22):8679. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228679.
Moderately preterm born children (MPT) are at increased risk for behavior problems compared to full term born (FT) children. MPT children may receive less optimal parenting, and in response, may develop behavior problems. Our aims were to examine whether parenting behavior and mother-child interaction quality mediate the association between birth status and child behavior problems. Participants were 120 MPT children and 100 FT children. At 18 months of age, mothers reported on their parenting behavior (support and structure), and mother-child interaction (sensitivity and limit-setting) was observed. At 6 years of age, mothers reported on children's behavior problems. Using structural equation modeling, birth status was found to predict attention problems, but not internalizing and externalizing problems. Mothers of MPT children set less appropriate limits than mothers of FT children at 18 months of age. More maternal structure at 18 months predicted fewer internalizing and externalizing problems, but not attention problems, at 6 years. These associations between parenting behavior, mother-child interaction quality, and child behavior problems were similar for MPT and FT children. Our findings indicate that maternal structure in toddlerhood is an important predictor of later internalizing and externalizing problems for both MPT and FT children.
中度早产儿（MPT）比足月产（FT）儿童患行为问题的风险更高。MPT 儿童可能得到的养育方式不太理想，作为回应，他们可能会出现行为问题。我们的目的是检验养育行为和母婴互动质量是否在出生状况与儿童行为问题之间起中介作用。参与者包括 120 名 MPT 儿童和 100 名 FT 儿童。在 18 个月大时，母亲报告了她们的养育行为（支持和结构），并观察了母婴互动（敏感性和限制设置）。在 6 岁时，母亲报告了孩子的行为问题。使用结构方程模型，发现出生状况预测了注意力问题，但不能预测内在和外在问题。与 FT 儿童的母亲相比，MPT 儿童的母亲在 18 个月时设定的限制不太合适。18 个月时更多的母亲结构预示着 6 岁时较少的内在和外在问题，但不能预测注意力问题。对于 MPT 和 FT 儿童，这些养育行为、母婴互动质量与儿童行为问题之间的关联是相似的。我们的研究结果表明，幼儿期的母亲结构是 MPT 和 FT 儿童日后内在和外在问题的一个重要预测因素。
