Maternal mind-mindedness over infants' first three months

Maternal mind-mindedness refers to mothers' ability to reflect upon their infants' mental states and respond appropriately. The present study assessed mind-mindedness longitudinally from the newborn period to the infant age of three months. The study is the first to assess maternal mindmindedness in the infant's early life prior to three months (one week, one month, two months, three months). To measure maternal mind-mindedness, mothers' speech to their infants is coded for mental state comments about the infants' thoughts, desires, and emotions. Appropriate mindminded comments are judged to accurately reflect the infants' mental states; non-attuned mindminded comments are judged to misinterpret the infants' mental states. Mothers' individual stability (rank order stability) and group level continuity (mean level of stability across the infant ages) were assessed. Mothers showed modest temporal stability in both appropriate and nonattuned mind-mindedness over the infants' first three months. The continuity of mindmindedness showed that appropriate mind-mindedness increased over the infant ages, but nonattuned mind-mindedness showed no change. In infants' early lives, mothers' ability to accurately interpret their infants' mental states is enhanced as the mother-infant relationship develops and infants become more communicative partners.