Abstract:

Aim: Positive parenting skills, especially mother–child interactions, are associated with positive effects in countless areas of child development. We aimed to evaluate mother–child interactions in children with developmental delay compared to those with age-appropriate development.  Material and Methods: Children aged 1-5 years admitted to the outpatient clinic for child health supervision were evaluated for the study. A 10-minute video recording was obtained while the participant mother–child couple played together in a room. Children were divided into 3 developmental groups using the Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-II); as age-appropriate, questionable, and delayed. Mother–child interaction was assessed using the “Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes” (PICCOLO) tool.  Results: A total of 142 children, whose developmental status was evaluated according to DDST-II and were grouped as age-appropriate (59), questionable (39), and delayed (44), were included in the study. The mean age of the children was 29.0 ± 11.9 months. The median PICCOLO score was 43 (interquartile range (IQR)=36-47) in the age-appropriate developmental group, 44 (IQR=35-51) in the questionable group, and 36 (IQR=32-45) in the delayed group. When adjusted for child’s age, gender, presence of a sibling, maternal age, mother’s education level, mother’s occupation, and household size, multiple logistic regression revealed higher rates for optimum responsiveness and encouragement domains, and total scores in age-appropriate and questionable groups, than in the delayed development group (P < .05).  Conclusion: Supporting all areas, especially the responsive and encouragement domains in mother–child interactions, may improve child development.

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