REVIEW OF RATING-SCALES THAT MEASURE PARENT-INFANT INTERACTION

Social interaction between infants and parents serves as the foundatio n for later development. Infants with disabilities and their parents m ay, at times, experience difficulty in engaging in positive and sustai ned interactions. A task force representing the National Center for Cl inical Infant Programs has recommended inclusion of direct observation of child-caregiver interactions in the assessment process (Greenspan & Meisels, 1994). However, researchers and practitioners may have diff iculty obtaining appropriate instruments for assessing parent-infant i nteraction (Farran, Clark, & Ray, 1990). The purpose of this article i s to review rating scales, recognized as one method of gathering infor mation to assess parent-infant interaction. Identifying information, d escriptive information, and psychometric qualities of these scales are presented. Discussion includes implications for practice and directio ns for future research.