The Impact of Risk on the Developmental Course of Visual Attention in Infants Born Prematurely

Abstract

The developmental course of attention has been documented in full-term infants, but the growth parameters of visual attention in preterm infants and the impact of medical and environmental risk on these measures have not been investigated. The purposes of the current investigation were twofold: 1) to examine the developmental course of attention over the first year of life in a sample of 71 infants born prematurely; and 2) to examine the impact of risk on these growth parameters in infants with varying levels of medical severity. Overall, the preterm sample demonstrated a general decline in peak look duration from 2- to 12-months corrected age that was best captured by a non-linear function. The construct of medical risk was not found to be significantly associated with either the intercept or slope factors in this model. Future considerations with regards to medical risk, inclusion of process environmental variables, as well as examining the relationship between these trajectories of attention and later developmental outcome, are discussed.