1. The role of an early intervention on enhancing the quality of mother-infant interaction.
- Author
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Wendland-Carro J, Piccinini CA, and Millar WS
- Subjects
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Brazil, Chi-Square Distribution, Child Development, Female, Health Promotion methods, Humans, Infant, Infant Care standards, Male, Patient Education as Topic methods, Patient Education as Topic standards, Prospective Studies, Treatment Outcome, Infant Behavior, Maternal Behavior, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment
- Abstract
The study examines an intervention designed to influence mothers' sensitive responsiveness toward their infant by presenting information about the newborn's competence to interact and promoting affectionate handling and interaction with the infant. Thirty-six primiparous mothers and their newborn infants participated in the study. On day 2/3 after delivery, mother-infant dyads were assigned to either: (1) an experimental group that received an intervention program designed to enhance mother-infant interaction; or (2) a control group that was presented with an intervention that emphasized basic caregiving skills. One month later an observation was undertaken in the home to assess mother-infant synchronous and asynchronous co-occurrences during free-play and infant bathing. The enhancement group showed a reliably greater frequency of co-occurrences involving vocal exchanges, looking to the partner, and physical contact. There also were differences in mothers' responsiveness to infant crying and involuntary responses. The findings show that even a modest videotaped early intervention can enhance mothers' sensitive responsiveness to the infant.
- Published
- 1999
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