[Measuring mother-child relationship: a German instrument for both self-assessment and assessment by others (SF-MKI)]

Childbearing, from the standpoint of psychological medicine, is the most complex event in human experience. Recently delivered mothers are vulnerable to the whole spectrum of general psychiatric disorders, as well as those resulting from the physical and psychological changes of childbirth. Even if most depressed mothers do not have a relationship problem with their neonates, new mothers who are mentally ill may be dysfunctional and experience impaired communication with their newborns. There is growing evidence of possible long-term negative consequences for the cognitive and social development of a child in such a situation. This gives strength to the arguments for increased awareness and more specific treatment modalities. To evaluate the quality of mother-child interaction in clinical settings we constructed a questionnaire which enables mothers' self rating and staff rating of these child related behaviors. Statistical analyses show that the SF-MKI is a reliable instrument with three independent scales: "responsive interpersonal functioning", "general self-perception" and "self-care in interaction".