We suggest that a relatively brief and low-cost programme can provide effective support for mothers who lack sensitivity in the interactions with their infants.

Tyrimo tikslas: motinos ir kūdikio sąveikos korekcijos (VIPP, Juffer et al., 2008) rezultatų įvertinimas, kai vaikams sukako dveji metai. Tyrimo planas: korekcijos (VIPP) poveikis buvo įvertintas N = 85 imtyje. Palyginti vaikų elgesio sunkumų korekcijoje dalyvavusių nejautrių kūdikio signalams motinų (N = 21), korekcijoje nedalyvavusių nejautrių (N = 21) ir jautrių (N = 43) motinų grupių įverčiai. Metodai: M. Ainsworth „Motinos jautrumo kūdikio signalams skalė“, vaikų elgesio sunkumai įvertinti CBCL/1 1½-5 skale (Achenbach and Rescorla, 2000).Rezultatai: VIPP korekcija neturėjo reikšmingos įtakos dvejų metų vaikų elgesio sunkumams. Nė vienoje iš tiriamų grupių nenustatyta reikšmingo motinos jautrumo kūdikio signalams ir vaikų elgesio vėlesnių problemų ryšio. Nejautrių nedalyvavusių korekcijoje motinų grupėje jų kasdienio streso, susijusio su vaiko priežiūra, dažnumas ir intensyvumas yra reikšmingai susijęs su vėlesniais vaikų elgesio sunkumais.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: motinos jautrumas kūdikio signalams, vaikų elgesio sunkumai, motinos ir kūdikio sąveikų korekcija, vaizdo analizės metodas.Effects of Video-feedback Correction of Infant–Mother Interaction on Two-years-olds’ BehaviourLina Kalinauskienė, Danguolė Čekuolienė, Inna Kusakovskaja, Vaida Kiltanavičiūtė SummaryObjective. A andomized control trial examined the effects of short-term, interaction focused and attachment-based video-feedback intervention (VIPP, Juffer et al., 2008) in infancy on children’s behaviour problems at the age of two years.Design. Intervention effect on children‘’s behaviour problems was assessed in a sample of N = 85 mother–infant dyads (only first-born healthy infants, living in intact families participated). Intervention effect on children’s behaviour problems was evaluatedin non-clinical, middle-class Lithuanian mothers by comparing three groups of mother–infant dyads: low-sensitive mothers, who participated in the intervention (N = 21), low sensitive mothers who did not participate in the intervention (N = 21), and a groupof sensitive mothers with a higher sensitivity (N = 43) who did not take part in the intervention.Intervention. The VIPP intervention consisted of five monthly sessions and was implemented between the 7th and 12th months of infant’s age. The intervention was conducted by two clinical psychologists after an extensive training.Method. Maternal sensitivity was evaluated from video-record of the free play sessions using the Ainsworth sensitivity scale. Children’s behaviour problems were assessed using CBCL 1/2-5 (Achenbach and Rescorla, 2000). Infants’ positive and negativereactivity (temperament) from observational data and maternal daily stress (Crnic and Greenberg, 1990) were assessed additionally.Results. Children of the intervention group mothers received similar scores on behaviour problems scales as did control group mothers and mothers with a higher sensitivity. Maternal sensitivity in all groups of infant–mother dyads did not correlate significantly with the scores on children’s internal, external and total behaviour problems’ scales. Maternal daily stress (related to child care) significantly correlated with children’s behaviour problems in the control group. In the group of mothers with higher sensitivity, family income, fathers’ age and occupation significantly correlated with the later children’s behaviour problems. We could speculate that in the low sensitive mothers’ intervention group we maybe did not find a correlation between maternal daily stress (related to child care) and later children’s behaviour problems, because the intervention served as a buffer for these mothers, while in low-sensitive mothers of the control group the mentioned correlation was moderate.Conclusion. Children’s behaviour problems at two years were not significantly affected by intervention in infancy.Keywords: mother’s sensitivity to her child’s signals, child behaviour problems, mother–infant interaction correction, video analysis method.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama, ar motinų jautrumas kūdikio signalams susijęs su asmenybės savybėmis, turinčiomis įtakos bendravimui su aplinkiniais. Tyrime dalyvavo 32 motinos su savo 6 mėnesių pirmagimiais. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog introverčių motinų jautrumo įverčiai statistiškai reikšmingai didesni negu ekstraverčių. Taip pat nustatėme, jog jautrių kūdikio signalams motinų grupės socialinės adaptacijos, konvencionalumo ir kūrybiškumo rodikliai aukštesni nei patekusiųjų į nejautrių motinų grupę. Pastarųjų realybės indeksas, vertinant H. Rorschacho metodika, buvo mažesnis, palyginti su jautrių motinų grupės. Rezultatai taip pat rodo, kad jautrių motinų empatijos, domėjimosi žmonėmis ir tapatinimosi su jais įverčiai aukštesni, jų suvokimas tikslesnis, dėmesio koncentracija geresnė. Motinų jautrumo kūdikio signalams ir emocingumo įverčių sąsajos nėra statistiškai reikšmingos. Pagrindiniai žodžiai: prieraišumas, motinos jautrumas kūdikio signalams, asmenybės savybės.MATERNAL SENSITIVITY AND ITS RELATION TO PERSONALITY TRAITSLaura Šarkinaitė, Danguolė Čekuolienė, Lina Kalinauskienė SummaryThis study explored relations between maternal sensitivity and her personality traits. Maternal sensitivity refers to mother’s ability to perceive and to interpret accurately the signals and communications implicit in her infant’s behavior, and given this understanding, to respond to them appropriately and promptly. Maternal sensitivity is of fundamental importance to the development of a secure attachment and also to the further life of the child. Though attachment theory states that mother’s attachment representations are the principal determinant of maternal sensitivity, the ecological perspective proposes that contextual variables also can affect maternal sensitivity and the relationship between mother and her child. One of the explored contextual variables in this perspective is mothers’ psychological characteristics, but data in this realm are inconsistent. Inasmuch as psychological traits influence interactions with others, they also may play a role in the early mother–infant interaction and may influence some aspects of maternal sensitivity. The purpose of this study was to determine how maternal sensitivity is related to her personality traits (i.e. introversion / extraversion, adjustment to reality, accuracy of perception, interest in people, and emotionality).Thirty-two mother–infant dyads participated in the study; all infants were firstborns. Maternal sensitivity was assessed using the observation technique (Ainsworth’s Maternal Sensitivity Scale). The Rorschach inkblot test was used for evaluation of mothers’ personality traits. The type of experience (i.e. introversion / extraversion), adjustment to reality, accuracy of perception, emotionality and interest in people were evaluated.The results suggest that maternal sensitivity is related to her type of experience: mothers that are introverted, are more sensitive to their infant’s signals. Our data also suggest that sensitive mothers tend to appreciate a more social standards, they could be better socially adjusted and have more adequate contact with reality than insensitive mothers. Also, sensitive mothers’ evaluations of creativity, accuracy of perception and concentration of attention tend to be higher than those of insensitive mothers. Data of our study did not confirm any relation between maternal sensitivity and her emotionality evaluation.Key words: attachment, maternal sensitivity, personality traits.