“Working model of the child interview”: Infant clinical status related to maternal perceptions
✍ Scribed by Diane Benoit; Charles H. Zeanah; Kevin C. H. Parker; Elaine Nicholson; Jennifer Coolbear
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 131 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0163-9641
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Parental perceptions and subjective experience of infants have long been considered important in clinical work with infants and families. Using three different samples of infants, we compare mothers' representations of their infants in clinically referred and nonreferred groups, using the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI). Twenty-four mothers of infants with failure to thrive (and 25 matched controls), 17 mothers of toddlers with sleep disorders (and 20 matched controls), and 13 mothers of infants seen in a general infant psychiatry clinic participated. Compared to their nonclinical counterparts, mothers of infants with clinical problems had representations of their infants that were significantly more likely to be classified distorted or disengaged. Infant gender, age, and birth order were independent of maternal classifications. We conclude that the WMCI is a useful structured interview to categorize mothers' perceptions and subjective experience of their infant and relationship with the infant. Mothers' WMCI classifications are associated with the clinical status of the infant. RESUMEN: Las percepciones de la madre y la experiencia subjetiva de los infantes han sido consideradas importantes, desde hace tiempo, en cuanto al trabajo clínico con infantes y familias. En este estudio, presentamos los resultados de una entrevista clínica acerca de las representaciones que las madres tienen de sus infantes y las comparamos con las representaciones de otras madres de infantes que no pertenecen al mismo grupo. Participaron veinticuatro madres de infantes con problemas de crecimiento (y sus 25 parejas de control), 17 madres de infants con trastornos para dormir (y sus 20 parejas de control), y 13 madres de infantes que habían sido vistos en una clínica de siquiatría infantil general. Comparados con sus contrapartes no clínicas, las madres de infantes 107
The research was supported in part by the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children. We thank both Catherine Boucher, for her assistance with data collection, and the participants of the study. Requests for reprints should be directed to D.