MATERNAL DIRECTIVE AND FACILITATIVE INTERACTION STYLES - ASSOCIATIONSWITH LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-RISK AND HIGH-RISK TODDLERS

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of maternal inte raction styles to the development of a sample of 56 toddlers (19 low r isk, 37 high risk) seen at 12 and 24 months of age. At 12 months, vide otapes of mother-child interaction were coded for directiveness, sensi tivity, and elaborativeness. At 12 and 24 months, cognitive and langua ge measures were collected. A directive maternal style was negatively correlated with sensitivity and elaborativeness, whereas sensitive and elaborative ratings were positively correlated, suggesting a facilita tive style. Regression models significantly predicted receptive langua ge and cognitive development at 24 months but not expressive language. Maternal directiveness at 12 months was negatively related to later r eceptive language skills, whereas elaborativeness at 12 months was pos itively predictive of later cognitive development. Child status variab les and maternal interactional styles contributed about equally to the prediction of later cognitive and language outcomes.