Prematurity stereotyping and mothers' interactions with their premature and full-term infants during the first year.

Objective: To longitudinally assess stability and correlates of prematurity stereotyping and perceptions of infant vulnerability in mothers of premature (N = 56) and full-term (N = 59) infants.

Method: At 5, 9, and 12 months, mothers rated videotapes of unfamiliar infants with a full-term label (FTL) or a preterm label (PL), interacted with their own infant, and completed other questionnaires. A subgroup of infants were administered a developmental assessment at 32 months.