Interpersonal interactions between institutionalized retarded children and their attendants.

An observational method was devised to enable detailed analysis of the behavioral and situational components of aide-resident interpersonal interactions in an institutional ward for retarded children. With this device we measured mode of communication, interpersonal affect, response to the initiator of an encounter, the context within which the interaction occurs, and a mand/tact dimension. In this article, the development and validation of the scale, including data on its reliablity, utiliy, and communicability in training novice observers, was reported. Interrater agreement in each dimension exceeded 80 percent, averaging 89 percent over all categories. Observations over a 7-week period indicated that the dormitory was consistently characterized by child-care and ward-management activities and a neutral affective atmosphere in which aides initiated most of the interactions. The observational method appears appropriate for evaluating interventions designed to improve the quality of residential treatment.