Applications of the Simple Interactions Tool to Evaluate Responsive Caregiving in Caregiver-Infant Dyads

• In Event: The Simple Interactions Tool: Applications of a Novel Video-Coding Method for Quantifying Caregiver-Child Relationships

Abstract

Introduction
Responsive caregiving is a critical mechanism driving healthy socio-emotional and cognitive development in children. Specifically, maternal sensitivity and high-touch back and forth interactions have been linked to the development of emotion regulation (Mathis & Bierman, 2015), executive function (Bernier, Carlson, & Whipple, 2010), and language skills (Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001) in early childhood. Further evidence from children exposed to adversity suggests that responsive caregiving may serve as a protective factor with the capacity to buffer the negative effects of early environmental stressors (Blaisdell, Imhof, & Fisher, 2019).

Compared to a relative wealth of measures designed to quantify verbal interactions between caregivers and preschool-aged children (e.g. Robinson & Eyberg, 1981), few reliable assessment tools exist that comprehensively characterize interactions with preverbal infants. The present study centers on a novel video-coding methodology (the Simple Interactions Tool) designed to quantify two important characteristics of responsive parenting: a) emotional connection and b) reciprocal serve and return interactions. This paper serves two primary aims a) to highlight how the Simple Interactions Tool was adapted for use with preverbal infants and b) to discuss the relationship between coded infant interactions, parent stress, parenting self-efficacy, and child outcomes.

Study Population & Methods
This paper will present data from 91 mother-infant dyads; 58.2% (n=53) of the infants were male (mean age = 23.15 months, SD = 9.94 months) and the majority (78.9%, n = 71) of families identified as Hispanic/Latinx. Families were recruited as a part of a larger multi-part intervention study in the Denver metro area; all families were eligible for Early Head Start services (mean annual income = $30,294, SD=$21,590). Baseline and post-intervention assessments were completed during home visits and included several parent-report measures (e.g. Parent Sense of Competence Scale [PSOC], Parent Stress Index [PSI]), standardized child assessments (e.g. Preschool Language Scale [PLS], Early Social Communication Scales [ESCS]), and video-recorded dyadic interactions. Two subscales of the Simple Interactions Tool (Connection, Reciprocity) were adapted for use with preverbal infants and used to quantify dyadic interactions during book reading and free play tasks.

Hypotheses and Results
Preliminary results indicate the successful adaptation and reliable implementation of the Connection and Reciprocity subscales to evaluate interactions with preverbal infants. High inter-rater reliability across contexts (see Table 1) suggests the reproducibility of this adapted measure for use with infants across settings. We plan to conduct further correlation analyses to assess relationships between parenting self-report scales (PSOC, PSI), child language scores (PLS, ESCS), and quantified dyadic interaction (Connection, Reciprocity). We expect to find an inverse relationship between reported stress and coded responsive caregiving behaviors, and a positive correlation between parenting self-efficacy and Connection/Reciprocity scores. We further expect that the quality of reciprocal interactions during play will predict child language outcomes. Although the scope of this presentation will focus on the relationship between stress, parenting behaviors, and child outcomes, we will use analyses from this sample to discuss the suitability of the Simple Interactions Tool to evaluate interventions focused on responsive caregiving behaviors.

Authors

• Andrea Imhof, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Ana Hernandez, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sihong Liu, Stanford University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah E Watamura, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Philip Andrew Fisher, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author