Margaret Fish

Language skills in low-SES rural Appalachian children: normative development and individual differences, infancy to preschool

This longitudinal study compared low-socioeconomic status (SES) rural Appalachian children with normative populations on standardized measures of language skills. At 15 months, language skills were similar to those of normative populations, but at 4 years and prior to kindergarten entry, a majority of children had low language skills. Within-group individual differences were predicted by contextual, child, and maternal interaction variables, with more variance accounted for at the preschool assessments than in infancy. Maternal interaction, child temperament, infant language skills, and number of books discriminated children with higher language scores at 4 years. Entering kindergarten, children with higher language scores were distinguished by higher infant and 4-year language skills, more books, and greater likelihood of secure infant attachment.

Mother parity as a main and moderating influence on early mother-infant interaction

Abstract This study investigated main and moderating effects of mother parity on maternal attitudes and behaviors. In a sample of 87 mothers with 5-month-old infants, relations between determinants of parenting (maternal personality, marital quality, infant negative emotionality) and maternal behavior and attitudes (sensitivity, self-efficacy, mother-reported infant temperament) were examined as a function of parity. Results revealed both main and moderating effects of parity. Multiparous mothers reported higher self-efficacy, whereas primiparous mothers reported more of an increase in marital ambivalence following the babys birth. The relations of self-efficacy, sensitivity, and mother-reported infant temperament to a laboratory measure of infant crying all differed by parity. In addition, for primiparous mothers, negative personality traits related to reported infant temperament, and for multiparous mothers, marital ambivalence and maternal sensitivity appeared to reflect a compensatory process. These results suggest that parity contributes to explaining how differing family systems influence development during infancy.

Early patterns of mother-infant dyadic interaction: infant, mother, and family demographic antecedents

This experiment explored multiple antecedents of differences in the quality of motherinfant interaction during a videotaped free-play episode at 5 months. Subjects were 76 mother-infant pairs participating in a longitudinal project that included extensive assessment of infants and mothers during the neonatal period. At 5 months, mother and infant interactive behaviors were independently rated, and cluster analysis was used to identify distinctive patterns of dyadic interaction. Discriminant function analyses revealed that a set of neonatally measured infant, mother, and family demographic variables correctly classified mother-infant pairs into clusters 75% of the time. A cumulative effects score derived from univariate follow-up tests showed a highly significant relation to cluster membership; the likelihood of more optimal 5-month interaction steadily increased as the number of positive antecedent conditions increased.

Patterns of Mother-Infant Interaction and Attachment: A Cluster-Analytic Approach

This study examined stability and change in patterns of mother-infant interaction between 5 and 10 months and their relation to attachment security at 18 months. Cluster analysis was used to identify patterns of dyadic interaction. There was significant, but not substantial, stability in cluster membership from 5 to 10 months. For females, being in the most optimal cluster at 5 months related to subsequent attachment security, regardless of the 10-month pattern of interaction. For males, who were significantly more likely to be insecure than females, insecure attachment was predicted by negative change from 5 to 10 months (moving from a more optimal to a less optimal cluster).

Attachment in infancy and preschool in low socioeconomic status rural Appalachian children: Stability and change and relations to preschool and kindergarten competence

Attachment classifications were obtained from the Strange Situation at 15 months and at 4 years for a sample of 82 low socioeconomic status rural Appalachian children. The rate of secure attachment in infancy was 50.5%, and the majority of insecure infants were disorganized. At 4 years of age 61.2% of children were secure; early secure relationships were likely to be maintained, and about half of the insecure infants changed to a secure classification by 4 years. Overall, there was low but significant stability in attachment at the level of secure/insecure. Comparisons of (a) children who changed from insecure to secure with those who were stable insecure and (b) stable secure children with those who changed from secure to insecure identified contextual, child, and maternal interaction factors associated with attaining secure attachment. Assessments of cognitive and socioemotional competence at 4 years and kindergarten age suggested a protective effect of secure infant attachment but little benefit from secure preschool attachment.