Parent-Child Interaction and the Developmental Profile of Children following Neonatal Encephalopathy

Abstract

Neonatal Encephalopathy (NE) is a clinical condition characterised by disturbed neurological functioning in newborn infants and is associated with unfavourable outcomes including developmental delay. It is estimated that NE occurs in 3 in 1000 births worldwide. Standardised assessments of development are the most common tool used to assess the development of children born with NE, however, the developmental profile and the underlying processes that influence child development in this clinical group remains relatively undefined. Identifying developmental processes may help advance our understanding of the development of children born with NE. The observation of parent-child interactions is a well-established approach that has been used to study developmental processes that impact child development. Between group differences observed between dyads in clinical and non-clinical groups have been shown to be differentially associated with children's developmental outcomes. The current research compared the developmental abilities of children born with NE to typically developing children born without complications using standardised assessments of development. Naturalistic parent-child interactions were recorded and characteristics of the interaction such as joint attention and the speech used by parents and children were analysed and compared between the groups. Associations between children's developmental abilities and qualities of parent-child interactions were also investigated in those impacted by NE. Overall mothers of children born with NE were found to exhibit behaviours that support their children's development such as using more concise speech patterns and using bids that relate to the interests of the child to encourage joint attention. This research adds to the literature by advancing understanding of developmental profile of children born with NE. Research analysing the parent-child interactions of those impacted by NE provides an insight into the underlying processes that influence child development. In order to gain a comprehensive idea of how NE might affect child development, the influence of NE on child and parent behaviours is considered.