Very Preterm and Full-Term Infants' Response to Socio-Emotional Stress: The Role of Postnatal Maternal Bonding.

Very preterm (VPT) infants are at risk for altered socio-emotional stress regulation, even in the absence of perinatal complications. Moreover, becoming a mother of a VPT infant is a traumatic event, which might affect the establishment of a bonding relationship toward the infant during the postnatal period. The main aim of the present study was to assess the association between maternal postnatal bonding and socio-emotional stress response in 3-month-old VPT infants, compared to full-term (FT) controls.