Early patterns of mother-infant dyadic interaction: Infant, mother, and family demographic antecedents

Margaret Fish, Cynthia A. Stifter, Jay Belsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

This experiment explored multiple antecedents of differences in the quality of motherinfant interaction during a videotaped free-play episode at 5 months. Subjects were 76 mother-infant pairs participating in a longitudinal project that included extensive assessment of infants and mothers during the neonatal period. At 5 months, mother and infant interactive behaviors were independently rated, and cluster analysis was used to identify distinctive patterns of dyadic interaction. Discriminant function analyses revealed that a set of neonatally measured infant, mother, and family demographic variables correctly classified mother-infant pairs into clusters 75% of the time. A cumulative effects score derived from univariate follow-up tests showed a highly significant relation to cluster membership; the likelihood of more optimal 5-month interaction steadily increased as the number of positive antecedent conditions increased.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-18
Number of pages18
JournalInfant Behavior and Development
Volume16
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1993

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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