Mother-infant communication and maternal employment

30 mothers and their 15--17-month-old infants were videotaped in a 12-min free-play session. Vocal and nonvocal communication patterns were observed between 3 groups of mother-infant pairs including (1) homemakers who prefer not to work, (2) homemakers who prefer to work, and (3) working mothers. 10 behaviors related to visual contact, vocalization, touch, and responsiveness were rated. A 4-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed differences in a few behaviors between groups of mother-infant pairs in the first 8 mins. No differences were found during the last 4 min of observation. The data suggest differences in communication occur only during adjustment to a new situation. These results, at least in terms of the infancy period, are in contrast to earlier articles which suggest that the mother-infant relationship is affected by maternal employment.