Infants of adolescent mothers are at known risk for less than optimal developmental outcome, a risk believed to be mediated in part through characteristics of the parent-infant interaction. This research examines one aspect of that interaction, mother-infant adaptation in a functional area, sleep behavior, and its relationship to the infant's mental and psychomotor development. The regularity of infant sleep behavior and the success with which issues concerning sleep behavior are negotiated is postulated to reflect the degree of responsivity within the mother-infant system. Adaptation in the mother-infant system will be measured in terms of 1) regularity of infant sleep behaviors, and 2) the level of stress experienced by the mother with reference to sleep behavior and parenting in general. Subjects will be 25 adolescent and 25 adult single mothers and their first-born infants. Groups will be comparable in socioeconomic status, adequacy of prenatal care, and absence of major perinatal complications. Infant sleep behavior will be assessed by direct observation in the home at 3 and 5 weeks, and by mother report at 4, 8, and 12 months. Degree of maternal stress over sleep and other parenting issues will be assessed by interview, diary, and questionnaire at each time period, and the child's developmental status will be assessed at 12 months. Results will be examined to determine whether 1) infants of adolescent mothers show less regularity of sleep behavior than infants of adult single mothers; 2) whether adolescent mothers show higher levels of stress related to sleep and to parenting in general; 3) whether and how these measures of the elements of the system are related to each other across time; and 4) how they relate to the child's developmental status at 12 months. Identification of a tendency for adolescent mother-infant pairs to experience difficulties in this functional area could alert clinicians to screen for sleep disturbances as indicators of more pervasive problems of responsivity within the mother-infant system. Intervention to increase responsivity might then be able to mitigate the long-term negative effects on the child's developmental competency.
