[The Mannheim Rating Scale for the Assessment of Mother-Child Interaction in Infancy].

Within a prospective longitudinal study of the first eight years of life, which aimed determination of pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders a qualitative rating system of mother-infant face-to-face-interaction was evaluated. The rating system consists of 8 scales for mother and 5 scales for infant behavior. The rating intervals had a length of 60 sec, whereas the whole video-taped interaction took 10 minutes. Analysing 48 dyads sufficient coefficients of interraterreliability and validity could be demonstrated for the rating system. It proved to be an appropriate measurement for mother-child interaction in early infancy. Behavior of the mother described by the rating system predicts behavior disturbances of the child better than the total of organic and psychosocial risk factors.