The role of an early intervention on enhancing the quality of mother-infant interaction

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.

PIP: This study examines the role of an early intervention designed to enhance the quality of interaction between mothers and their infants. Subjects included 36 primiparous mothers and their newborn infants. On day 2 or 3 after delivery and prior to discharge from the hospital, dyads were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an experimental group that received an intervention program designed to enhance mother-infant interaction or a control group that was presented with an intervention program that emphasized basic care-giving skills. Results showed that for the enhancement group, there were more incidences involving infant vocalization with mother's reciprocal vocalization, smiling, soothing, and stimulation compared to the control group. Findings demonstrate the enhancement of mother-infant interaction and highlight the role of the vocal channel in mother-infant exchanges. Moreover, there was also an association between infant crying and involuntary behaviors, and maternal unresponsiveness for the control group, particularly in the bathing situation. Results indicate that a simple videotape/discussion intervention can enhance the sensitive responsiveness of mothers toward their infants.