Early communicative behaviors and their relationship to motor skills in extremely preterm infants

none8siDespite the predictive value of early spontaneous communication for identifying risk for later language concerns, very little research has focused on these behaviors in extremely low-gestational-age infants (ELGA<28 weeks) or on their relationship with motor development. In this study, communicative behaviors (gestures, vocal utterances and their coordination) were evaluated during mother-infant play interactions in 20 ELGA infants and 20 full-term infants (FT) at 12 months (corrected age for ELGA infants). Relationships between gestures and motor skills, evaluated using the Bayley-III Scales were also examined. ELGA infants, compared with FT infants, showed less advanced communicative, motor, and cognitive skills. Giving and representational gestures were produced at a lower rate by ELGA infants. In addition, pointing gestures and words were produced by a lower percentage of ELGA infants. Significant positive correlations between gestures (pointing and representational gestures) and fine motor skills were found in the ELGA group. We discuss the relevance of examining spontaneous communicative behaviors and motor skills as potential indices of early development that may be useful for clinical assessment and intervention with ELGA infants.This work was supported by grants from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (grant year 2008, protocol 2008J2WEEK, and title: PRIN 2008 “Gestures and language in children with atypical and at risk developmental profiles: relationships among competences, mother–child interaction modalities and proposals of intervention”) and the University of Bologna (grant year 2007, protocol STRAT07SAN, title: Strategic Project 2007 “Early communicative-linguistic and cognitive abilities: risks linked to preterm birth”), awarded to Alessandra Sansavini.embargoed_20161108Benassi, E; Savini, S; Iverson, J.M.; Guarini, A; Caselli, M.C.; Alessandroni, R.; Faldella, G.; Sansavini, A.Benassi, E; Savini, S; Iverson, J.M.; Guarini, A; Caselli, M.C.; Alessandroni, R.; Faldella, G.; Sansavini, A