Neurobehavioral conditions and effects of gender, weight and severity in preterm infants according to the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale

Authors

  • Alicia Alvarez-Garcia Clinical and Health Psychology Department. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8329-1784
  • Albert Fornieles-Deu Psychobiology and Methodology of the Health Sciences Department. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • Carme Costas-Moragas Clinical and Health Psychology Department. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain
  • Francesc Botet-Mussons Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. Universitat de Barcelona
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.31.3.170181
Keywords: Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, NBAS, prematurity, neonatal neurobehavior, neonatal development assessment

Abstract

The increasing number of preterm babies in recent years has raised interest in studying the consequences of prematurity as a risk factor. In the present paper, 30 preterm babies (at 40 weeks of gestational age (GA)) were assessed using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and the results were compared with those of a control group of 28 full term babies. Moreover, the influence of weight, sex and GA was analyzed considering the Brazelton results in the preterm group.

The preterm group showed significantly lower scores than the control group for 9 of the 28 behavioral items in the Scale and for 2 of the 5 clusters. However, preterm babies performed better in habituation to disturbing stimuli (light and sound) during sleep. In relation to the influence of sex, premature girls performed better in the Social-Interactive cluster.

The preterm group has lower neurobehavioral conditions than the full term group, probably due to the abrupt interruption of their intrauterine maturation. In contrast, they showed a better ability of habituation, maybe as a consequence of a learning effect due to earlier additional extrauterine exposition.

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Published
16-09-2015
How to Cite
Alvarez-Garcia, A., Fornieles-Deu, A., Costas-Moragas, C., & Botet-Mussons, F. (2015). Neurobehavioral conditions and effects of gender, weight and severity in preterm infants according to the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. Anales de Psicología / Annals of Psychology, 31(3), 818–824. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.31.3.170181
Issue
Vol. 31 No. 3 (2015)
Section
Developmental and Educational Psychology

 

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