A narrative review of the effect of parent–child shared reading in preterm infants

Abstract

The benefits of book-reading interventions on language development in full-term infants have been well investigated. Because children born preterm face a greater risk of cognitive, language and emotional impairments, this narrative review examines the theoretical evidence, empirical findings, and practical challenges for introducing such intervention to this population. The effect of shared book interventions on typically developing infants is mediated by three components: a linguistic aspect (i.e., exposure to enriched linguistic input), an interactive aspect (i.e., eliciting more synchronous and contingent communication), and a parental aspect (i.e., reducing parental stress and increasing sense of control). Parental shared book reading in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was found to be feasible and well accepted. It provides concrete support for positive parenting in a highly stressful context. Preliminary evidence supports a positive effect of shared reading sessions in physiological parameters of preterm infants in NICU. One study showed that parental shared book reading in an NICU is associated with lower decline in language development during the first 24 months compared to a historical control group. Findings from a community-based birth cohort confirm the positive effect of this intervention on cognitive development with a 2-year-follow up. More structured clinical trials are now needed to confirm these preliminary findings. Questions remain about possible moderators of these interventions, in particular cultural features.

Neighbourhood characteristics, lifestyle factors, and child development: Secondary analysis of the All our families cohort study

“…This finding suggests that parents reading with their children more often may buffer the negative impact of prenatal exposure to a neighbourhood with higher disorder. Parent-child reading is proposed to promote child development through various mechanisms such as improved linguistic, interactive, and parental functioning including reduced stress and increased sense of control ( 63 ). Parent-child reading interventions are also associated with improved relationship quality ( 64 ), which could create a safe space to learn.…”

Development and reliability of the coding system evaluating maternal sensitivity to social interactions with 34- to 36-week postmenstrual age preterm infants

“…The study took place in the same setting as the pretest studies. Videorecordings and PRICOSMAS scoring took place during ( Figure 1 ) parent-infant shared book-reading sessions, which are commonly provided by the Infant Psychiatry Liaison team as a means of supportive psychotherapy for parents with preterm infants in the NICU ( 14 ).…”

“…However, most studies to date have evaluated the impact of interventions much later, when the infant reaches the age of 3 months, rather than in the first few weeks of life, before discharge from the NICU. Furthermore, no such studies focusing on shared reading in preterm infants have been published ( 14 ).…”