Citation

Hans SL, Bernstein VJ, Percansky C. Eval. Program Plann. 1991; 14(1-2): 87-95.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0149-7189(91)90042-F

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

With the increasing awareness that the offspring of adolescent parents are at high risk for developmental problems, programs serving adolescent parents are introducing services designed to improve the quality of interaction between adolescent mothers and their infants. Since most program planners and evaluation researchers have had little training or experience in the highly specialized field of parent-infant interaction, this paper will provide orientation to some academic and applied issues in this area. First we will give evidence documenting the key role that the parent-infant relationship plays as a foundation for the child's later development--and in particular the evidence suggesting that adolescent parent-infant relationships place the child at risk. Second, by drawing upon experiences with the Ounce of Prevention Fund adolescent parenting programs, we will describe some of the challenges in selecting a parent-infant interaction assessment instrument for use in community-based programs.