COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS OF INFANTS OF TEEN MOTHERS - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

Purpose: To study the relationship between mother-infant interaction a nd an infant's preverbal communication skills among a group of teenage mothers and their infants, 13 teenage mother-infant pairs were videot aped in a free-play setting, The infants were then videotaped in a str uctured setting, with an examiner, designed to elicit preverbal commun ication behaviors. Mothers were < 17 years old and from low SES backgr ounds. Their infants were 9-12 months old, full-term, first born, and developmentally normal. Methods: Mothers' interactions were from the f ree-play setting using the Parent-Infant Interaction Scale. The infant s' preverbal communication behaviors were measured using the Communica tion and Symbolic Behavior Scales. Both the frequency of communication behaviors and the range of purposes of these behaviors were Results: A significant correlation was identified between a mother's interactio n scores and the range of purposes for which her infant used communica tion behaviors (p < 0.01). No correlation was found between maternal i nteraction scores and the frequency of communication behavior. Conclus ions: Infants whose mothers scored poorly on the Parent-Infant Interac tion Scale used most of their communication behaviors to demand or pro test. Infants from more optimally interacting dyads used communication behaviors for social interaction and commentary as well as to demand or protest. Maternal interaction and an infant's early communication s kills appear to be related in this exploratory study.