title: Analysis of mother-infant interaction in infants with down syndrome and typically developing infants.
abstract: Delays in development of early social behaviors in babies with Down syndrome are likely to affect patterns of interaction with their caregivers. We videotaped 23 babies in face-to-face interaction with their mothers at 8 and 20 weeks of age and compared them to 23 typically developing infants and their mothers. Social behaviors, mothers' behaviors, and quality of interaction were rated. At 8 weeks, babies with Down syndrome were significantly less communicative and lively than the typically developing babies. Their mothers' behaviors did not differ at 8 weeks, but did at 20 weeks. Although the social behaviors of babies with Down syndrome improved over time, qualitative differences remained.
authors.affiliation: Guy's Hospital, London, UK. vicky.slonims@gstt.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Vicky
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Slonims
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: McConachie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention; D003142:Communication; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012919:Social Behavior; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013694:Temperament