A replicable, low-burden mechanism for observing, recording, and analysing mother–child interaction in population research

Abstract

Background: There is growing evidence that specific styles of parent–child interaction benefit child development, particularly child language development. Direct observational techniques help clarify the behaviours and styles within parent–child interactions that may influence child language outcomes; however, these techniques tend to be labour-intensive and costly. We report on the development of a replicable, low-burden mechanism for observing and coding specific maternal linguistic behaviours in a population-based cohort of 2-year-olds. Methods: The coding scheme was developed as part of a prospective, longitudinal study examining the associations between maternal responsive behaviours an..