ABSTRACT
Parenting influences child health and development. Families, practitioners, and researchers are increasingly aware of how child health and development affects parenting. Research on parenting children born preterm has made important contributions to our understanding of both directions of influence. This chapter summarizes research on parenting of children born preterm and situates that research within the broader context of relations between child health and development and parental care. The chapter is divided into four sections. It begins by describing how preterm birth affects children, both immediately after birth and over the long term. The second section identifies how having a preterm child affects parents. The third section reviews ways in which interactions between parents and children, including parental care and interventions that shape and support parental care, influence developmental outcomes. The fourth section raises emerging questions and lays out future directions for research on parenting children born preterm.
