A multimethod perspective on mother–infant interaction in free and semi-structured play: Associations with parental reflective functioning

Abstract

The quality of mother–infant interactions may vary across situations and have differential relationships to other parenting variables. The current study focuses on examining the quality of observed interactions between free play and structured play situations with maternal self-assessment of the relationship and relations to maternal reflective functioning among six-month-old infants and their mothers. Sixty-three voluntary mothers from a community sample with their infants were observed in a laboratory setting during structured and free play sessions. Interaction quality was assessed using observer ratings of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) and Dyadic Emotional Interaction Style (DEIS) as well as maternal self-ratings (EA-SR). Maternal reflective functioning was assessed using the infant version of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ-I). The results showed that EAS ratings were significantly higher in the free play situation than in structured play for both mothers and infants. Maternal assessment of the infant's EA had a modest significant association with EAS ratings in the semi-structured situation. Reflective functioning predicted higher observed DEIS quality in the structured situation while higher EAS ratings in the free play situation were predicted by older infant age and lower maternal depression scores. The results suggest clinical relevance of using both free and structured situations and a multimethod perspective to assess mother–infant interaction quality in planning interventions.