The relationships among early stress, maternal social network supports, and mother-infant functioning during later infancy were explored in a group of 52 mothers and their high-risk premature infants. Maternal stress and support data were collected 1 month after infants were released from the hospital, and measures of parenting, mother-infant interaction, infant social and developmental competence, and infant attachment were collected at infant corrected ages of 8 and 12 months. Results indicated that stress and support from various ecological sources, including professionals, were related to parent and infant outcomes at both measurement occasions. Varying sources of support differentially predicted varying parent and infant measures where support had a stress buffering effect only under certain conditions. Professional support was found to account for significant amounts of variance in relation to some parenting factors beyond that attributable to other support sources. The results are discussed within the context of previous support findings and in relation to transactional models of high-risk infant development.
RESUME: Une etude a Cte menee sur le stress, les soutiens sociaux recus par la mere et la relation merenourrisson (de huit a douze mois) dans un groupe de 52 meres et leurs nourrissons prematures a hauts risques. Les donnees ont ete recueillies un mois aprts la sortie de l'hospital des nourrissons. Les donnees concernant I'interaction mere-enfant, la competence sociale et les progres du nourrisson, et l'attachement de I'enfant ont ete recueillies lorsque les nourrissons avaient atteint les lges de 8 et 12 mois. Les resultats indiquent que le stress et le soutien derives de diverses sources ecologiques, dont les specialistes, ttaient lies aux resultats concernant parents et nourrissons lors des deux enquttes. Differentes sources de soutien laissaient entrevoir des rtsultats differents chez les parents et les enfants dans les cas oh le soutien servait de tampon pour le stress seulement sous certaines conditions. Le soutien apportt par les sptcialistes explique une quantite significative de variances dans certains facteurs de comportement parental. Les resultats sont discutes dans le contexte des decouvertes precedentes concernant le soutien et en relation aux modeles transactionnels de developpement de nourrissons a hauts risques.