Validation of the LoTTS Parent -Infant Interaction Coding Scale

Abstract

Parent-infant interactions have been shown repeatedly to be an important part of healthy development. Research has shown that warm, sensitive, responsive parenting leads to secure attachment, which then leads to later adaptive emotional and cognitive development. Reliable and valid measurement of parent-infant interactions is necessary for measurement of skill acquisition in clinical settings, but existing observational coding schemes are far too complex for use by clinicians. The LoTTS Parent-Infant Interaction Coding System (LPICS) was developed specifically to require minimal training and to maximally useful for clinical (rather than research) settings. The LPICS consists of three global scales and four behavioral counts. Undergraduate students participated in three rounds of training and coding using the LPICS. Low interrater reliability scores for the first two rounds necessitated modifications to the LPICS in order to enhance reliability. The revised scoring procedure showed more promise, particularly for three behavior counts: talking to the infant (ICC = .86, excellent), touching the infant (ICC = .90, excellent), and smiling at the infant (ICC = .66, good), and one global scale: parental warmth (ICC = .58, fair). Significant correlations were also found between LPICS items and perceived social support, violence in the home, prenatal positive maternal life changes and number of milestones reached by the infant. The revised LPICS may have utility as a brief, simple, and easy to teach observational measure of parent-infant interactions. However, two important factors must be considered: it must show adequate inter-rater reliability in other studies using alternate raters, settings, and samples, and it must show adequate validity