[Early mother-infant separation and psychosocial development. II. Longitudinal study on 42 subjects].
It is the purpose of the present investigation to obtain some information as they can be drown from the activity of our follow-up for premature babies and infants at higher risk. The main objectives of the study were: - to evaluate the aspects of parent's emotional status and parent-infant interaction in the first year of life; - to evaluate possible effects of the early separation on later development of the children. We have observed 42 LBW infants (hospitalized at birth for a period of one-three months) and their parents for 7-8 years. Our study has included: interviews with parents, observation of interaction, clinical examinations, designs. Recurrent interactive patterns have been defined in their peculiarities in the first year of life. Patterns of later psychosocial development are also exposed: they are strictly related to the kind of the precocious interaction.