TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NBAS INTERVENTION WITH A SUBSTANCE-USINGPOPULATION

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Neonata l Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS; Brazelton, 1984) and the Mother's Assessment of the Behavior of her Infant (MABI; Field et.al., 1978) a s interventions to enhance mother-infant interaction with low-income, drug-using mothers. It also investigated the ability of mothers' recep tivity to predict intervention effectiveness. During the postpartum ho spital stay, 54 mother-infant pairs were randomly assigned to one of f our levels of intervention: NBAS teaching session along with MABI ques tionnaires (n = 14), NBAS teaching session only (n = 13), MABI questio nnaires only (n = 15), or no intervention (n = 12). Four weeks later, subjects were visited at home and observed by a blind observer during a feeding session. Maternal receptivity was rated both in the hospital and during the home visit. Results showed no differences in mother-in fant interaction among intervention groups, and that maternal receptiv ity was unable to meaningfully predict intervention effectiveness.