A study of the validity of the Japanese Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (JNCATS) utilizing sequential analysis: a second analysis of mother-child teaching interaction.

The measurement of early mother-child relationship and interaction is a critical issue for infant mental health. The Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS) has been regarded as one of the most effective assessment tools. A Japanese version (JNCATS) has been developed and its reliability was reported. The purpose of the present study was to show evidence for the validity of the JNCATS by utilizing micro analysis and sequential analysis of 53 mother-child interactions. Micro analysis is a second-by-second analysis of mother and child behavioral streams. Sequential analysis is a technique to detect mutual and contingent aspects of interaction. Variables obtained from these two methods were: a) probabilities of coding categories, and b) log odds ratios of contingency codes, whose correlations with JNCATS scores were examined. Some weak and medium correlations were found (p < .05). It was suggested that these two methods and the JNCATS could capture similar features of mother-child interaction, which provides evidence for the validity of the JNCATS.