Effect of Three Adult Interaction Styles on Infant Engagement
- 1 January 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Early Intervention
- Vol. 18 (1), 12-24
- https://doi.org/10.1177/105381519401800102
Abstract
A within-subjects design was used to investigate the effects of adult interaction styles on infant engagement Three interaction style conditions were created, each of which differed in terms of the stimulation and responsiveness provided by one adult Nine infants of adolescent mothers were videotaped individually in all conditions while interacting with the adult Parent/Caregiver Involvement Scale ratings of the interactions indicate that the independent variable was successfully manipulated Infant engagement was measured in terms of percentages of time spent in each of six mutually exclusive engagement states. Infants in the contingently responsive, moderately stimulating condition spent more than half of their time in interactive forms of engagement Infants responded to the condition with a relatively unresponsive adult providing low levels of stimulation with large amounts of time spent unengaged or in object-focused engagement Results from the overly directive, highly stimulating condition were dominated by the engagement category of watching. Results and follow-up comparisons are discussed in terms of the reactivity of infant engagement to adult behavior and its relevance to interaction-focused intewentions.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- American parenting of language-learning children: Persisting differences in family-child interactions observed in natural home environments.Developmental Psychology, 1992
- Early home intervention and socio-emotional development of preterm infantsInfant Mental Health Journal, 1990
- Habituation and Maternal Encouragement of Attention in Infancy as Predictors of Toddler Language, Play, and Representational CompetenceChild Development, 1989
- The Effect of Manipulating Maternal Behavior during an Interaction on Three- and Six-Month-Olds' Affect and AttentionChild Development, 1988
- Minimizing Adverse Effects of Low Birthweight: Four-Year Results of an Early Intervention ProgramChild Development, 1988
- Early Home Intervention with Low-Birth-Weight Infants and Their ParentsChild Development, 1986
- Infant Habituation: Assessments of Individual Differences and Short-Term Reliability at Five MonthsChild Development, 1986
- "A Change of Pace": An Investigation of the Salience of Maternal Temporal Style in Mother-Infant PlayChild Development, 1981
- Maternal Stimulation and Infant Exploratory Competence: Cross-Sectional, Correlational, and Experimental AnalysesChild Development, 1980
- Effects of Early Separation, Interactive Deficits, and Experimental Manipulations on Infant-Mother Face-to-Face InteractionChild Development, 1977