Maternal stress and social support: effects on the mother-infant relationship from birth to eighteen months.

Mothers' perceived stress and social support were found to be significant predictors of maternal attitudes and the quality of interaction with their infants, when measured concurrently across an 18-month period. However, long-term predictions were poor, as stability of maternal stress and support factors was only moderate. The quality of infants' interactive behavior was also affected by maternal stress and support, but only during the early measurement periods of one and four months.