Maternal employment status, mother-infant interaction, and infant development in day care and non-day care groups

Abstract

This study focuses on the pattern of relationships between mother-infant interaction as a predictor variable and cognitive outcome measures within employed mother and non-employed mother groups. Fifty-four mothers and their one-year-old infants participated in the study. While the employed mother and non-employed mother groups were not found to differ in terms of either interaction or outcome scores, the pattern of influence within the groups was markedly different. Additionally, for the employed mother group a positive correlation was found between prestige level of employment and the quality of mother-infant interaction. This research suggests that questions regarding infant day care be framed within the larger context of family processes, which include a wide variety of factors that may influence infant development.