Parents' perceptions of their newborn following structured interactions.

A study of 57 married couples and their normal-term firstborn infants investigated (a) if parents' perceptions are related to behavior of infants and (b) if a structured interaction of parent with infant positively influences parents' perceptions of their infant. Mothers, fathers, or parents in three experimental groups participated in a structured interaction with their infants. Parents and infants in a control group received no structured interaction. The interaction consisted of the parents assessing their infant using the Mother's Assessment of the Behavior of Her Infant (MABI). Infants' behaviors were measured with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and parents' perceptions with the Neonatal Perception Inventories (NPI). There was no relation between infant behavior and parental perception. The factor structure of NBAS items was similar to that found by other investigators. The structured interaction differentially affected perception scores of mothers at Time 2 (F 3, 53 = 3.96, p = .013). Perceptions of mothers and fathers achieved some congruence over time (Time 1, r = .18, p = .189; Time 2, r = .45, p = .001; Time 3, r = .41, p = .002). Seven other variables contributed more to variance in mothers' than fathers' perceptions.