Relations between infant irritability and maternal responsiveness in low-income families

Relations between infant irritability and maternal responsiveness at 12 and 18 months were investigated in low-income mother-infant dyads. Emphasis wa s placed on whether results varied according to measurement strategies, inf ant gender, or level of maternal social support and satisfaction with that support. Irritability was measured separately through observation and mater nal report, responsiveness was measured observationally, and maternal socia l support and satisfaction were self-reported via questionnaire. Concurrent relations between irritability and responsiveness were, in general, negati ve and were larger when irritability was measured observationally rather th an by maternal report. Correlations were similar across gender. No longitud inal relations were found between irritability and responsiveness. Amount o f maternal social support was weakly related to responsiveness and to respo nses to infant irritability, and the nature of these relations was unexpect ed. Irritability-responsiveness relations varied as a function of measureme nt strategies, which may in part explain mixed findings in the empirical li terature.