Stability of early home intervention effects with preterm infants: one‐year follow‐up

Abstract

The effects of an early home intervention program with prematurely born young children and their parents were assessed one year after the intervention ended, or at 28 months of age. The preterm control group continued to perform more poorly than did the preterm treatment groups or the full term control group on the Bayley motor scale. The full term group performed better than did the preterm groups on the Bayley mental scale. The preterm control group also continued to show lower maternal involvement and variety of stimulation than did the treatment groups or the full term group. While the HOME results at 28 months were not as markedly in favor of the treatment and full term groups as they were at 16 months, they continued to reflect better home environments for these than for preterm control group. These results support the claim that early home intervention focussed on the parents as active partners in the intervention and active learners of problem solving strategies of parenting issues results in lasting beneficial effects for both children and parents.