Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood: Normative, NICU Considerations, and Application in NICU Follow-Up Programs for At-Risk Infants and Their Families

Abstract

Experienced NICU clinicians are familiar with the dramatic change in social interactions seen in their newborn patients as premature infants progress toward their due dates or near- or full-term infants progress from acute illness to recovery. The interactions gradually increase in frequency and become more sophisticated as the infant matures and/or stabilizes. Talking to the infant evolves from minimal to encouraging to fun, while the infant’s ability to respond evolves from minimal to aware to engaging. These changes-both infant and caregiver-are both cause and effect of the infant’s social-emotional development.