Paternal sensitivity and psychomotor development of the preterm-born child: a CARE-Index study.

During the perinatal period, the role of the father is not merely that of supporting their partner, but also that of establishing a direct relationship with their child. Indeed, preterm birth represents a stressful and potentially traumatic event for the whole family. Both the family’s sense of security and the child’s development can be affected by paternal behaviors under such critical circumstances. Hence, this study aims to investigate the influence of paternal sensitivity on the psychomotor development of the preterm-born child. 61 father-child couples were assessed from birth to the first 12 months of corrected age; 27 couples in the sample had preterm-born children (birth weight < 1500 g) while 34 had term-born children. Participant recruitment was conducted in collaboration with the NICU of Rimini and Brescia. At 3 months of corrected age of the newborns, we assessed paternal sensitivity and attachment forerunners using CARE-Index, a video-recorded procedure of adult-child spontaneous interaction. Furthermore, CES-D for depressive symptoms was used to assess the sampled fathers. The Bayley Scales III were also included in this study to assess the child’s psychomotor development. Fathers of preterm children showed lower dyadic sensitivity (p < .01), more frequent insecure attachment forerunners (p < .05) and higher depression symptoms (p < .05), compared to the control group. These factors were associated with lower scores on the Bayley Scales at 6 months of corrected age (p < .05). Moreover, fathers with severe depression symptoms displayed more recurrent insecure attachment forerunners (p < .05). The findings highlight the importance of the father-child relationship from the first months. The quality of the relationship between father and child appears significantly different in families of preterm infants. Therefore, support to the father in transitioning to parenthood may increase the quality of parenting and childcare in families with preterm babies.