Evaluating Responsive Caregiving: Validity of the Simple Interactions Tool

Abstract

Research has shown responsive caregiving may mitigate the effects of early childhood stress on socio-cognitive development. To evaluate the quality of caregiver-child interaction, the Simple Interactions (SI) Tool is used as a video-coding assessment to quantify dyadic interactions. The SI Tool is primarily divided into dimensions of “Connection” and “Reciprocity”—Connection measures social and emotional connectedness through matched affect and joint attention, and Reciprocity evaluates balanced, mutual interaction. Despite a growing body of literature implementing these constructs within research settings, the underlying properties of each subscale remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the validity of the Connection and Reciprocity subscales via correlational analyses. Filmed interactions from 138 caregiver-infant dyads were gathered from a larger multi-part intervention study whose primary interactions were recorded in Spanish. Each dyad was evaluated during reading and free play tasks, and the latter were scored using an additional third measure to quantify parent and infant vocalizations. We expect to find significant correlations between coded interactions measured using the Connection and Reciprocity subscales. Finally, we anticipate these analyses will reveal robust properties of the Connection and Reciprocity subscales and validate the use of the SI Tool in broader contexts.