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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Parent Sci Pract. 2010 Jul 1;10(3):219–239. doi: 10.1080/15295190903290840

TABLE 1.

Maternal Behavior Codes and Sensitivity Ratings Based on Concurrent Infant Affect

Sensitivity Rating If:
Infant Affect
Maternal Behavior Description Positive Neutral Negative
Negative directs negative affect toward the infant 1 1 1
Intrusive forces own agenda on the infant 1 1 1
Mismatched affect affect is incongruent with infant’s 1 1 1
Withdraw mother abruptly moves away or ends
interaction with infant
1 2 1
Distracted uninvolved or minimally involved with
infant
1 2 1
Persistent
ineffective
continues to respond to infant in same
ineffective manner when alternative
responses are available
2 2 2
Monitor watches infant/situation without
intervening
2 3 1
Task focused engages with infant focusing on the
arousing task
3 3 1
Calming soothes infant physically or vocally 3 3 3
Supportive maintains the infant’s attention on the
task while simultaneously calming infant
3 3 3
Non-task focused
engagement
plays with or distracts the infant without
using the arousing task
3 3 3
Routine care engages in practices like wiping nose,
straightening clothing
3 3 1

Note. Infant positive affect is a rating of 1, 2, or 3, neutral is 4, and negative is a rating of 5, 6, or 7. A detailed codebook is available on request.

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