Interacción madre-hijo y desarrollo mental infantilImplicaciones para la atención temprana

Abstract

Objective: We pretend to analyze the relation between the maternal sensitivity and the motherchild interaction quality, and how the last affects child’s mental development in his/her first year. Methodology: The participants in this study were 19 children (11 boys and 8 girls) 12 month old, who were born in term and without pre or postnatal complications, with normal weight and high at the birth; and their respective mothers. The dyads came from intact families of medium socioeconomic level, residents in the Comunidad Autónoma de Murcia (Spain). The Mental Development of children was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley, 1993); and the mother-child interaction was analyzed with the “CARE Index: Child-Adult Relation Experimental Index “designed by Crittenden (2001). Results: Maternal sensitivity has a significant relation with the child’s cooperative behaviour; both aspects together, promotes a synchronic and good-quality interaction; which is positive related with better mental development indexes. Conclusions: Maternal sensitivity is not an individual characteristic; it is a factor which emerges from the dynamic of the mother-child interactions. The relevance of this construct in the Early Intervention context is it relevance as a protective factor, in the implementation of intervention lines and the promotion of the infant’s development.