The Neonatal Perception Inventory: failure to replicate.

This study investigated the relationship reported by Broussard and Hartner that mothers' perceptions of their infants at 1 month of age were predictive of social-emotional development at 4 1/2 years of age. The subjects for this replication study were 50 Caucasian children who were part of a longitudinal study in which maternal perception scores had been obtained at 1 month. When the children reached 4 1/2 years of age it became possible to undertake the emotional assessment. This was done during a 50-min free-play and interview session conducted by a child psychiatrist who used the same materials and procedures as in the Broussard and Hartner study. The results were that 33% of the children were identified as having problems but the relationship between problems and earlier maternal perception could not be demonstrated. The Neonatal Perception Inventory has the potential for being a very useful aid in working with new mothers, but its value as a predictor of later emotional problems is not substantiated by this study.