Abstract

RODRIGUEZ, Gisela Mariel. Kinds of mother / child bonds and sensorymotor intelligence in 6 to 15 months old babies. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2006, vol.23, n.2, pp.175-201. ISSN 1668-7027.

The main purpose of this study was to observe the influence of mother / child bonds on the sensorymotor intelligence in 6 to 15 month old babies. The sample was made up of 54 babies Argentinian, ranging from 6 to 15 months of both sexes, with their respective mothers (between 16 and 40 years old). Some of them were patients from the Centro de Salud Eva Perón (Strobel, Prov. de Entre Ríos), from the Sanatorio Adventista del Plata (Libertador San Martín, Prov. de Entre Ríos), and others were members of the Iglesia Adventista (San Justo, Prov. de Buenos Aires). The criteria used to include the babies in our study was that they be healthy. Furthermore, other aspects under evaluation were: (a) months of breastfeeding, (b) months of gestation, (c) birth order, (d) mother's age, (e) mother's work outside the home and (f) mother's education level. To analyze the relationship between the mother / child bond and the baby's intelligence the following instruments were applied: (a) Escala Argentina de Inteligencia Sensorio- Motriz (EAIS) for 6 to 24 month old babies (Oiberman, Mansilla & Orellana, 2002), (b) Perfil de la Observación del Vínculo Madre-Bebé for 0 to 6 month old babies (Oiberman, 2001) and (c) Perfil de la Observación del Vínculo Madre-Bebé for 7 to 15 month old babies (Oiberman, 2001). The objectives of this study were the following: (1) To evaluate sensorymotor intelligence in babies ranging from 6 to 15 months using the EAIS. (2) To observe the mother / child bond when the baby is 0 to 6 months old (Oiberman, 2001). (3) To observe the mother / child bond when the baby is 7 to 15 months (Oiberman, 2001). (4) To evaluate how other variables related to the mother / child bond such as months of breastfeeding, months of gestation, birth order, gender, work and the mothers' education level, influence the babies' intelligence. (5) To promote a better bond between the mother and her baby. The results show no significant differences in the mother / child bond over the baby's intelligence percentile, even though we found a slight tendency. All babies with absent bonds (3 babies) had an intelligence level scoring less than 50 (min., 10 and 50). On the other hand, out of 14 babies with good bonds with their mothers, 10 had normal intelligence, and out of 37 babies with very good bonds with their mothers, 32 were considered to have normal intelligence. There were high significant differences in months of gestation over the kind of bond, and a significant difference was also found in the mother's education level over the mother / child bond. Birth order, months of breastfeeding, gender and whether or not the mother worked outside the home did not show significant differences over the mother / child bond. We also found a high significant influence in months of gestation over the baby's intelligence and a significant influence in months of breastfeeding over sensorymotor intelligence. Gender, birth order, the mother's education level and whether or not the mother worked outside the home did not have a significant influence over the baby's intelligence.

Keywords : Kind of mother / child bond; Sensorymotor intelligence; Mother's education level; Months of breastfeeding; Months of gestation; Birth order; Mother works outside the home.

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