The Early Mother-Infant Relationship and Social Competence with Peers and Adults at Three Years

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Abstract
The impact of the early mother-infant relationship on social competence was investigated in Ss from a low-income population born in a public hospital in a large city. Assessments of the mother-infant relationship were made at three months and one year. Social competence was assessed in three-week day camp sessions when the children were about three years old. The mother's responsiveness at three months was related to the child's later social competence with adults, while the infant's responsiveness to mother at three months was not correlated with measures of social competence with either adults or with peers. Ainsworth's “strange situation” classification at one year was related to the success of bids for interaction, complexity of bids, and whether the child spent time near peers or near adults at three years, as well as to camp staff members' ratings of social competence with peers and with adults. Staff ratings of social competence with both peers and adults consistently correlated positively with more objective behavioral measures.