Pre- and postnatal antecedents of a home-visiting intervention and family developmental outcome

This is a study of the pre- and postnatal antecedents of select indices of 6 to 24 months mother-child and child social-emotional development. The following hypotheses guided the study: 1. That a mother who is secure before the birth of her child will be more involved in the work of the home-visiting intervention, and will by child age 24 months be more responsive to the needs of her child, encourage the autonomy of her child, and use verbal and positive forms of control. In this relationship context, the 2 year-olds would expect to be cared for, show more autonomy, and respond positively to the mother's control. 2. That in a regression mode of analysis, the following five antecedents will be additional predictors of the 2 year outcome: (a) the 1-month mother responsiveness and the infant irritability, (b) the 6 month mother's partner and family support, and (c) the mother's involvement in the work of the intervention in the 7-to 12-months period. Repeated measures analysis of variance and stepwise regression analysis showed that the mother's prebirth secure/autonomous state was associated with the outcome in the 6- to 24-month period and her involvement in the work of the intervention, and that the latter was consistently a significant antecedent of the 24-month outcome. The implications of outcome being anticipated by both family characteristics and the mother's involvement in the intervention are discussed.