Mother-Infant Interaction in Multiproblem Families: Finding Those at Risk

The authors evaluated mother-infant interaction in multiproblem families to help identify those children vulnerable to development of psychopathology. They videotaped 16 infants exposed prenatally to methadone and 23 comparison infants interacting with their mothers at ages 4 and 12 months. Using a scale they developed, the authors rated the quality of communication. Neither maternal resources nor infants' level of neonatal risk predicted infant interaction or infant Bayley Scale performance. At infant age 12 months, mothers' interactive behavior was a significant concurrent predictor of infant functioning. The authors conclude that the variability of the lives of multiproblem families makes prediction over time very difficult. However, evaluating mother-infant interaction was a helpful “marker” of infants who were contemporaneously experiencing problems.