Social-emotional development in very preterm infants during early infancy

[Extract] Mental health disorders among children and adolescents are of growing importance, with an estimated prevalence of 10–20% [1]. There are now indications that these problems are major contributors to the global burden of disability [2]. In a review related to preterm infants, Johnson et al. [3] indicated that there was a 3- to 4-fold increased risk for mental health disorders in middle childhood as compared to term infants. As it has been proposed that children may benefit from early intervention [4,5], it is crucial that they be identified at an early stage. Social-emotional difficulties during infancy are considered to be a predictor of later mental health problems [6]. There has been however, relatively little investigation into the social-emotional development of very preterm infants during the first years of life. Nevertheless it has been suggested that up to a quarter of very preterm infants exhibit social-emotional delays during infancy [[7], [8], [9]]. Furthermore, lower social competence at two years of age has been noted for preterm infants when comparisons have been made with term born peers using the Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment [10] and the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment [11].