INTERACTION, INTERVENTION, AND DEVELOPMENT IN SMALL-FOR-GESTATIONAL-AGE INFANTS

Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants and matched appropriately grown (AGA) control group infants were observed in interaction and assessed developmentally in the first year. A simple intervention encouraging tactile stimulation was given to mothers of half the SGA subjects. At 3 months, dyadic interaction patterns were similar for AGA subjects and intervention-SGA subjects, with nonintervention-SGA dyads having lower levels of interaction. By 6 months, most of the differences in interaction patterns had disappeared. Bayley MDI scores were higher at 12 months of age for the AGA group than for the SGA group. It is suggested that the intervention facilitated behavioral stability in the SGA infants in the early months which helped them to participate more effectively in dyadic interaction. © 1990.