Dyadic parent-infant interaction patterns at 12 months: Exploring dyadic parent-infant gender compositions

This study investigates differences in dyadic mother-infant and father-infant interaction patterns at infant age 12 months, and the relation between different parent-infant gender compositions and the dyadic interaction. Data were drawn from a large-scale, population-based Norwegian community sample comprising 671 mother-infant and 337 father-infant interactions. The Early Relational Health Screen (ERHS), a screening method for observing dyadic parent-infant interactions, was used to assess the parent-infant interactions. Scores on the ERHS were employed to investigate dyadic differences in the overall interaction scores, and dyadic interaction on seven sub-dimensions between mother-infant and father-infant pairs. The relation between different parent-infant gender compositions and the dyadic interaction scores was also examined. As expected in a normative sample, most parent-infant interactions received scores in the upper rating levels. Differences between mother-infant and father-infant patterns were generally small, but mother-infant dyads tended to obtain slightly higher scores. The mother-infant dyads received higher scores on the dimensions of engagement and enjoyment, but no other significant differences between the parent-infant pairs were found for the remaining dimensions. We did not find evidence for a moderation effect of child gender. However, parent-daughter dyads received somewhat higher scores than the parent-son dyads.