PURPOSE: to investigate obstetric, demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial risk factors of mother-child dyads for the occurrence of changes in the Risk Indicators for Child Development (IRDI) in children age groups from zero to 18 months. METHOD: the sample consisted of 182 mother-infant dyads. Data collection occurred through the analysis of mother-infant interaction based on the Risk Indicators for Child Development (IRDI) Protocol and on an interview which investigated socio-economic, demographic, obstetric and psychosocial aspects in the first stage of the procedures. Data were organized into an electronic spreadsheet and then converted to computer software for statistical analisys. RESULTS: the significant risk factors for the four phases of IRDI were, in the range of zero to four months, the mother's marital status and number of children; in the range of four to eight months, the number of prenatal visits and per capita income; in the range of eight to twelve months, pregnancy planning; and in the range of twelve to eighteen months, maternal depression history, the mother's age and profession. CONCLUSION: the study demonstrated that the environment and the situations in which the mother-infant dyad is part of, may hinder or facilitate the development of the infant.
Socioeconomic Factors; Risk Factors; Language; Child Development
