Enhancing Maternal Interactive Behavior and Child Social Competence in Low Birth Weight, Premature Infants

Abstract

Effects of a comprehensive early intervention program for low birth weight, premature infants--the Infant Health and Development Program--on mother-child interaction were examined at 30 months (N = 683). Small significant positive effects were found: Intervention mothers had higher ratings on quality of assistance; intervention children had higher ratings on persistence and enthusiasm and on an overall child rating of competence and involvement and lower ratings on percentage of time off-task; intervention dyads were rated as more synchronous. Of a set of initial status variables indexing biological and environmental risk, only 2 treatment interactions were found. Intervention group black children had higher ratings on enthusiasm and lower percentage of time off-task. Independent of treatment, maternal ethnicity and education were significant predictors of maternal and dyadic ratings, while ethnicity and birth weight predicted child ratings. Implications for early intervention and center-based care are discussed.

Gestational hormone profiles predict human maternal behavior at 1-year postpartum

“…It was developed for a large NICHD multisite study that followed over 1200 children and their families from 1 month postpartum through early adolescence. The composite measure of maternal sensitivity is positively associated with measures of mothers' interactive behaviors and inventory scores derived from the Home Observation of Measurement of the Environment (Caldwell and Bradley, 1984; Spiker et al, 1993), indicating that this assessment relates to maternal behavior when assessed in more naturalistic settings. Additionally, it is predictive specifically of the quality of mother-child attachment and also predicts child socioemotional, language and cognitive development (Brooks-Gunn et al, 2002; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1999b, 2006).…”

Quality of caregiver-child play interactions with toddlers born preterm and full term: Antecedents and language outcome

“…We used scales from two sources: (1) a study of a subset of participants in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD) [29], which drew upon a coding scheme by Adamson and Bakeman [30], and (2) the 24-Month Child-Parent Interaction Rating Scales for the Three-Bag Assessment [31], which were derived from coding scales utilized in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD SECCYD [32] and the Newark Observational Study of Teenage Parent Demonstration [33] and [34]. One scale, Caregiver Verbal Elaboration on Topics, was developed within our research group.…”

Beyond Shared Book Reading: Dimensions of Home Literacy and Low-Income African American Preschoolers' Skills

“…Quality of assistance during problem solving was coded using a system adapted by Chase-Lansdale, Zamsky, and Brooks-Gunn (1989; see also Spiker, Ferguson, and Brooks-Gunn, 1993) from a system developed by Sroufe, Matas, and Rosenberg (1980). This scale measures the mother' s overall skill in assisting the child in a manner that helps the child stay interested and motivated while allowing a maximum amount of exploration and learning.…”