Evaluation and Program Planning, Vol. 14, pp. 87- 95, 1991 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. 0149-7189/91 $3.00 + .OO Copyright 0 1991 Pergamon Press plc ADOLESCENT PARENTING PROGRAMS: ASSESSING PARENT-INFANT INTERACTION SYDNEY L. HANS and VICTOR J. BERNSTEIN The University of Chicago zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML CANDICE PERCANSKY The Ounce of Prevention Fund ABSTRACT With the increasing awareness that the offspring of adolescent parents are at high risk for de- velopmental problems, programs serving adolescent parents are introducing services designed to improve the quality of interaction between adolescent mothers and their infants. Since most program planners and evaluation researchers have had little training or experience in the highly specializedfield of parent-infant interaction, this paper will zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML provide orientation to some aca- demic and applied issues in this area. First we will give evidence documenting the key role that the parent-infant relationship plays as a foundation for the child’s later development-and in particular the evidence suggesting that adolescent parent-infant relationships place the child at risk. Second, by drawing upon experiences with the Ounce of Prevention Fund adolescent parenting programs, we will describe some of the challenges in selecting a parent-infant inter- action assessment instrument for use in community-based programs. INTRODUCTION In western society, adolescent pregnancy and parent- hood have serious negative consequences for the devel- opment of both mother and child. Becoming a mother too soon seriously limits a young woman’s opportuni- ties for personal development, educational attainment, and economic achievement (cf. Alan Guttmacher Insti- tute, 1981; Furstenberg, 1976; Hofferth & Hayes, 1987). The children of adolescent mothers are at risk for academic and behavior problems (Baldwin & Cain, 1980; Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986; Elster, McAnarney, & Lamb, 1983; Roosa, Fitzgerald, & Carl- son, 1982b; Simkins, 1984); and even when young mothers are able to achieve educational and economic success, this success may be at a cost for their children (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, & Morgan, 1987). In the past decade, numerous community-based pro- grams have been established whose goals are to improve life chances for pregnant and parenting adolescents. Typically, such programs offer teenage mothers psy- chosocial support, crisis intervention, encouragement to continue education and vocational training, and family planning education. While, in theory, most programs for adolescent parents include among their goals the en- hancement of opportunities for both parent and child, in practice, their focus has rarely been on helping the child (Musick, Bernstein, Percansky, & Stott, 1987). Prevention programs targeted at infants or at parents as parents, usually are limited to helping teenage parents learn to provide basic care for their children. While providing health, education, and support ser- The initiation of the Ounce of Prevention Fund’s Developmental Program was in large part due to the leadership of Irving B. Harris, Judith S. Musick, and Judy L. Carter. Funding was generously provided through the Harris Foundation and the Smith Richardson Foundation. The development of the Parent-Infant Observation Guide was the collaborative effort of many people including Linda Henson from the University of Chicago and staff from Ounce of Prevention programs around the state of Illinois. Inquiries about the Parent-Infant Observation Guide should be directed to Victor J. Bernstein, Department of Psychiatry, Box 411, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637. Requests for reprints should be sent to Sydney L. Hans, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637. 87