Predicting long-term developmental outcomes from maternal perceptions of infant and toddler behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the long-term developmental correlates of maternal perceptions of infant and toddler behavior. Maternal ratings of children's social behavior and developmental progress were obtained when the children were 13 and 24 months of age, using the Maternal Perceptions Questionnaire. These early perceptions measures were intercorrelated with follow-up measures of children's developmental competence and behavioral adjustment at age 6. Maternal evaluations of child characteristics in the 2nd year predicted not only their own ratings of child behavioral adjustment but also teacher, examiner, and laboratory performance measures of cognitive competence and social adjustment. Although predictive correlations were generally modest, maternal perceptions scales showed meaningful patterns of relationships with later child characteristics, pointing to the desirability of further research on this topic.