Maternal Attention-Directing Strategies and Infant Focused Attention During Problem Solving

Forty-nine mother–infant dyads participated in the study. Mothers were observed during free play with their infants to assess their attention-directing strategies. Infants were observed during the Bayley to assess their focused attention abilities. Assessments were made when infants were 10 and 18 months. Whereas consistently high levels of maintaining over time were modestly associated with better infant focused attention at 18 months, consistently high levels of redirecting were moderately associated with poorer infant focused attention at 18 months. Additionally, more focused attention was associated with higher Bayley scores at both ages. Although the direction of effects could not be determined, the findings suggest links between maternal attention-directing strategies (maintaining and redirecting) during play and infant attentional abilities during problem solving.