Long-term Effect of The Mother Infant Transaction Program (MITP)

Long-term Effect of The Mother Infant Transaction Program (MITP)

The purpose of this study is to investigate if a cost and time effective intervention in a previous RCT for preterm infants and their parents can reduce the parents experience of concern and stress, and improve the childrens development in various aspects at three years of corrected age.

Hypothesis 1: The preterm born children of parents who were enrolled in the earlier RCT have a higher developmental level then preterm children of parents who received the usual treatment.

Hypothesis 2: Parents who who were enrolled in the earlier RCT will have a lower level of stress and concern then parents who received treatment as usual.

A previous RCT by Ravn (NCT00245843) investigated if the MITP could sensitize the mothers toward the babies signals and thereby increase the quality of joint attention. The study followed the children for 1 year.

This study is a follow-up to the above mentioned RCT. It investigates whether the effect of the RCT is present at three years corrected age.

The research questions are:

1. Can a psychoeducative program like the MITP influence the childrens' development in various aspects?
2. How did the MITP influence the parents experience of concern and stress three years later?
3. Were there any differences by the groups? a) Preterm intervention group b)Preterm control group c) Full term control group

The questionnaires to be used in this observational study are:

Ages and Stages

Inclusion Criteria:

• All parents of children who participated in Ravn's RCT and who said yes to be asked for participation in an eventually later study will be asked.