RESPONSIVE PARENTING IN THE 2ND-YEAR - SPECIFIC INFLUENCES ON CHILDRENS LANGUAGE AND PLAY

In two longitudinal studies, relations between dimensions of maternal responsiveness at 13 months and children's language and play abilities at 13 and at 20 months were examined. We characterized mothers' respo nsive exchanges by assessing the targets of maternal responses (i.e. w hat child activities mothers respond to) and the verbal contents of ma ternal responses (i.e. what mothers said when they responded), and we asked whether subtypes of responsiveness would relate differentially t o children's language and play abilities. In general, maternal respons iveness to children's vocalizations predicted children's language, and maternal responses to children's play predicted children's play. Thes e findings suggest that maternal responsiveness can be profitably cate gorized into subtypes that relate to domains of child outcomes in spec ialized ways. The specific nature of mother-child associations in the domains of early language and play is discussed. (C)1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.