Maternal interactional behavior with nonorganic failure-to-thrive infants: a case comparison study.

Mothers of 47 6-month-old infants with early histories of nonorganic failure to thrive (NOFT) infants and a matched comparison group of physically healthy infants were observed in interactions with their infants in their homes one month following hospitalization. Mothers of NOFT infants were observed to have less adaptive social interactional behavior, less positive affective behavior, and demonstrated more arbitrary termination of feedings. No group differences were found in flexibility or sensitivity of maternal feeding, or in environmental circumstances such as number of persons present, noise level, or level of activity. These salient deficiencies in maternal interactional behavior may continue to disrupt the NOFT child's physical growth and psychological development following initial diagnosis and hospitalization. Additional studies are needed to identify patterns of maternal interactional behavior which influence psychological prognosis and to assess the responsiveness of maternal interactional behavior to intervention.