CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTION ANTECEDENTS OF CHILDRENS SCHOOL-AGE COGNITIVE-ABILITY

The association between qualities of early caregiving and children's cognitive competence at school-age was examined longitudinally. Caregiver-child interactions were measured when children were ages 6, 13, and 24 months and again at age 6 years, and related to assessments of cognitive competence at ages 6 and 8 (n = 79-85). Children's temperament and developmental status also were assessed during the first 2 years, and examined as potential mediational links in relations between early caregiving and later competence. Two major dimensions of maternal behavior, nonrestrictiveness and verbal stimulation, were significant predictors of children's later cognitive competence. These relations were not artifacts of variations in family SES, children's early temperament, or developmental status. The findings provide further evidence of long-term continuity in children's mental abilities, and in patterns of mother-child interactions associated with variations in children's cognitive competence.