Seven-Year Outcome of the Vermont Intervention Program for Low-Birth Weight Infants
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1990
Keywords
Children, Infants, Socioeconomic status, Child development, Test scores, Birth weight, Age, Mothers, Low birth weight, Cognitive development
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.2307/1130830
Abstract
We compared 24 low-birthweight subjects of an experimental intervention (LBWE), 32 no-treatment controls (LBWC), and 37 normal birthweight (NBW) subjects. The intervention involved 7 hospital sessions and 4 home sessions in which a nurse helped mothers adapt to their LBW babies. At age 7, LBWE scored significantly higher than LBWC on the Kaufman Mental Processing Composite (p < .001), Sequential (p = .02), and Simultaneous (p = .001) Scales, after statistical adjustments for socioeconomic status. LBWE did not differ from NBW (F < 1). These results bear out a divergence between the LBWE and LBWC that first became statistically significant at age 3. The findings suggest that the intervention prevented cognitive lags among LBW children, and that long-term follow-ups are needed to evaluate the developmental effects of efforts to overcome major biological and environmental risks.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Child Development, v. 61, issue 6, p. 1672-1681
Scholar Commons Citation
Achenbach, Thomas M.; Phares, Vicky; Howell, Catherine T.; Rauh, Virginia A.; and Nurcombe, Barry, "Seven-Year Outcome of the Vermont Intervention Program for Low-Birth Weight Infants" (1990). Psychology Faculty Publications. 960.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/960
