Infant Vulnerability and Parent Overprotection: Recommendations for Health Professionals

摘要

Medical risk factors are not the sole predictor of health and developmental outcomes in preterm children. Developmental and health outcomes in preterm children are determined by complex interactions among biological and genetic vulnerabilities, as well as several environmental and psychosocial factors. Among those factors are the mother-child relationship and the maternal psychological characteristics that influence this relationship. A review of the literature offers discussion of two types of parenting behaviors that may affect developmental outcomes in preterm children: (1) the increased parental perception of child vulnerability (PPCV) to illness and injury and (2) the parental overprotection (POP) behavior.