Biomedical subjects

M Censullo

Publications and source records attributed to M Censullo.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1994

Developmental delay in healthy premature infants at age two years: implications for early intervention.

Ninety-four healthy full-term and preterm infants, who differed because of immaturity, not medical or social risk factors, were assessed at 3 and 24 months of age. Preterm infants scored significantly lower on the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI), but not the Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) compared with full-term infants at 24 months (age corrected for prematurity). Nine factors, which included a combination of environmental and infant temperament variables, accounted for 36% of the variance in MDI scores. Separate regression analyses by infant group found that the caregiving environment, Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (HOME total score), contributed more to the variance in preterm than full-term development, despite the fact that the HOME scores were high and did not differ between groups at 2 years of age. These findings provide further evidence of the need to continue developmental follow-up for healthy low birth weight (LBW) preterm infants and of the important influence of early caregiving factors on later development, even for middle-class, LBW preterm infants.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1994

Strategy for promoting greater responsiveness in adolescent parent/infant relationships: report of a pilot study.

A small pilot study tested an interaction coaching procedure designed to increase the level of responsiveness in adolescent parent/infant interaction behavior with 12 teenage parents and their infants. There was a significant increase in the level of responsiveness and parental self-esteem scores after the intervention compared with those before the intervention. Although the sample size was small, the results are encouraging and suggest further development of the intervention, Interaction Coaching for Adolescent Parents and their Infants (ICAP).

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Behavioral and psychophysiologic assessment of the preterm infant.

Cardiorespiratory activity was recorded during attentional responsivity on the Brazelton scale in term and preterm infants. Preterm infants showed less heart rate deceleration, less heart rate variance and less power in the ECG spectrum at frequencies associated with respiratory sinus arrhythmia and oscillations in blood pressure: A lower threshold for attentional stimulation in the preterm infant may trigger a CNS mechanism that protects the infant from stimulus overload. Study of the coordination between behavioral and physiological reactivity provides an understanding of the role of the CNS in mediating information processing.

Child Behavior↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Home care of the high-risk newborn.

When a newborn at high risk because of prematurity is discharged from the hospital, the family involved faces a time of crisis. Because parents experience increased stress during the transition to home care, both the parents and their infant are vulnerable to the effects of the added stress on the family's health and well-being. Community nursing intervention is a necessary component of care for the family of a high-risk newborn. Nursing strategies that address specific counseling and teaching needs of the family of a high-risk newborn are presented.

Counseling↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An instrument for the measurement of infant-adult synchrony.

The Dyadic Mini Code (DMC) is designed to measure levels of synchrony in early infant-adult interaction. Based on important components of synchronous interaction reported in the literature, the instrument consists of six items, a total score, and a summary rating. Videotapes of 38 term and preterm mother-infant pairs were studied to establish reliability and validity of the tool. Interrater reliability was determined using Cohen's kappa and percent of agreement; kappa was .86 for the total score and ranged from .63 to .92 for each of the six items. A discrimination index, applied to each item, indicated that four items are good predictors of the final rating and two require further testing. Dyadic Mini Code summary ratings compared to mean coherence values computed from Monadic Phase Scale (Tronick, Als, & Brazelton, 1980) scores on the same data yielded moderate concurrent validity; point bi-serial analysis, rpb = .488, p less than .01; and chi 2 = 4.878, df = 1, Fisher's exact test (1-tail) = p less than .05. Construct validity was demonstrated by finding that the instrument discriminated between preterm and term dyads according to expected differences, chi 2 = 4.071, df = 1, Fisher's exact test (1-tail) = p less than .05. Further refinement of the DMC is indicated.

Child Behavior↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Rhythmic patterning in mother-newborn interaction.

Face-to-face, dyadic interaction in term and preterm mother-newborn pairs was examined for a rhythmic pattern at 40 weeks gestational age. Three-minute interaction episodes for each mother-infant pair were recorded on videotape and scored with a dyadic code graded along a dimension of disengagement-engagement. Spectral analysis was used to analyze the data for rhythmicity. A reliable rhythmic structure was found in all dyadic interactions. No significant difference was evident between term and preterm dyads. The findings provide quantitative evidence of rhythmic patterning in dyadic interaction from birth for term pairs and as early as 40 weeks gestation for preterm pairs, which is much earlier than previously reported in the literature. The Dyadic Interaction Code, a new tool for studying the interaction process over time, is described, and a recently reported method of analysis (spectral analysis) for interaction data is applied to mother-newborn behavioral data.

Adolescent↗