"Despite abundant evidence for the influence of primary caregivers’ interaction with young children on their further development, there is a lack of standardized and published inventories for assessing the quality of such interactions. INTAKT, a newly developed instrument, which helps to rate maternal sensitivity, maternal feedback, and maternal interaction in joint attention episodes, is designed to close this gap," Nicole Hirschmann and colleagues (Vienna) report (Psychol Test Assess Model). "Two studies examined the psychometric properties of INTAKT, applying it to different kinds of mother-child dyads. Inter-rater reliabilities, as well as validation data using internal and external criteria, showed that the INTAKT scales allowed for an objective, reliable, and valid assessment of interaction quality between mothers and their children. Thus, the inventory is suitable as a diagnostic instrument for assessing the quality of mother-child interactions.
In summary, the studies show that the defined behavioral categories can be objectively and reliably assessed with INTAKT and that they offer valid information on the quality of mother-child interactions. By redefining maternal behavior descriptions, it was possible to raise inter-rater reliability considerably. Validity of the instrument was proven on the basis of internal as well as external criteria.
Thus, observation of maternal sensitivity, maternal feedback, and maternal behavior in joint attention episodes provides a solid basis for the assessment of the quality of mother-child interactions. As can be seen from the extensive research reported, interactional quality in those areas has a great impact on the further development of the child. Therefore, assessment via INTAKT is likely to provide additional information when assessing the developmental status of a child. Research linking INTAKT measures with developmental measures is currently under way.
In a next step, norms should be created for the newly developed instrument, so that it can then be used in the context of routine mother-child assessments. The assessment of maternal behavior could then also be used as a starting point for maternal counseling and interventions regarding the interactions with her child.
So far, INTAKT has only been used with (foster) mothers and their children. However, there does not seem to be any reason why it should not be possible to use the same categories to evaluate interactions between fathers or other caregivers (e.g., day care providers) and their children. Further research should focus on this topic."
Nicole Hirschmann, Ursula Kastner-Koller, Pia Deimann, Nadine Aigner, Tanja Svecz: INTAKT - A new instrument for assessing the quality of mother-child interactions. Psychol Test Assess Model, Volume 53, 2011 (3), 295-311
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