Related Experiment Videos
Factors affecting parents' perceptions of temperament in early infancy
S Wolk1, C H Zeanah, C T Garcia Coll
1Women and Infants' Hospital, Providence, R.I.
The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
|January 1, 1992
Insights
Parents
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Infant Behavior
- Parental Psychology
Background:
- Parental perceptions of infant temperament are crucial for early parent-infant interactions.
- Understanding factors influencing these perceptions is key to supporting healthy child development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how prenatal parental characteristics and objective infant behavior influence parents' perceptions of infant temperament at three months.
- To determine the independent contributions of parental and infant factors.
Main Methods:
- Parents' perceptions of infant temperament were assessed at three months postpartum.
- Prenatal parental characteristics were measured during pregnancy.
- Objective indices of infant behavior were recorded at three months.
Main Results:
- Both prenatally measured parental characteristics and objective infant behavior at three months independently predicted parents' perceptions of infant temperament.
- These factors contribute distinctly to how parents view their infant's temperament early on.
Conclusions:
- Parental perceptions of infant temperament are shaped by both parental predispositions and observable infant behaviors.
- This highlights a dual influence on early parent-infant relationship dynamics.
Abstract:
Parents' perceptions of temperament in their three-month-old infants were examined in relation to prenatally measured parental characteristics and to objective indices of infant behavior at three months. Infant behavior and parental characteristics appear to make independent contributions to parents' perceptions in early infancy.