Abstract

RIBAS, Adriana F. Paes  and  MOURA, Maria Lucia Seidl de. Maternal responsiveness: an investigation in a Brazilian urban context. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2006, vol.16, n.1, pp. 01-11. ISSN 0104-1282.

This study aimed at: 1) investigating maternal responsiveness in a Brazilian sample; 2) analyzing maternal responsiveness to babies' vocalizations with and without stress; and 3) analyzing the relationship between maternal responsiveness, mothers' educational level and the socio-economic level of the family. The participants were thirty dyads mother - five-month-old baby filmed at their residences during 60 minutes. The programs SDIS and GSEQ were used to analyze responsiveness. Results indicate that the mothers respond contingently to the vocalizations with stress of their babies with activities of care (Yule Q = 0.71; p<0.01). They also respond contingently with speech or vocalizations to their babies' vocalizations with stress (Yule Q = 0.34; p<0.01) and without stress (Yule Q = 0.20; p<0.01). No significant correlations were found between responsiveness and mothers' age, mothers' educational level, and socio-economic level of the families. These results lead to the conclusion that investigating possible relations between maternal responsiveness and human development in different contexts constitutes a challenge for researchers in the area.

Keywords : Maternal responsiveness; mother-infant interaction; sensitivity.

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