Maternal Education and Maternal Responsiveness as Predictors of Play Competence in Low Birth Weight, Premature Infants

Abstract

Videotaped play interactions of 182 low birth weight, premature toddlers and their mothers were used to investigate whether a model including maternal responsiveness together with level of maternal education was a better predictor of play maturity scores of the children than a model consisting of education level alone. The videotapes were coded using the responsiveness subscale of the Maternal Behavior Rating Scale. Regression analyses revealed that maternal education alone significantly predicted play scores, accounting for 9% of the variance. However, the model that included both maternal responsiveness and maternal education together also significantly predicted play scores and accounted for 20% of the variance. Including responsiveness together with maternal education significantly increased the proportion of variance accounted for by maternal education alone. Implications of these findings are discussed.