[Attachment representations and stress in mothers of very low birth weight preterm infants at two years of age]

Abstract

Introduction: There is a consensus that prematurity could affect the risk of attachment impairment.

Material and methods: We studied 90 very low birth weights preterm children (<1500 g) with follow-ups at Cruces Hospital (Bizkaia) and 96 healthy children born at term with similar age and sociodemographic characteristics. Our objective is to assess maternal stress and link model in accordance to attachment representations of mothers on both groups by using R Interview for Maternal Representations.

Results: Preterm infants had a medium-to-severe degree of immaturity and biological risk: mean gestational age of 29.9 weeks and birth weight 1159.76 gr, with 57% staying in the ICU ≥ 1 week. Mothers of preterm infants reported higher levels of stress during their first year of life (61%) than controls (39%), but no significant differences were found in link model (attachment representations) between the two groups.

Discussion and conclusions: The results confirm that preterm birth has a great influence on maternal emotional responses, and indicate that stress responses in parents and alarm signs for attachment problems should be assessed as early as possible.