We propose a series of projects that will be conducted by 5 Clinical Psychology Doctorate students from Exeter University. The projects will all be investigating parent sensitivity during the observed mother-infant interactions at the 12 month Child in Focus Clinic.

Projects 1, 2 & 3: For this proposal we would like to investigate the influence of maternal sensitivity at both 12 months and 61 months on the child's emotional, behavioural and social development looking at early measures of temperament, social cognition and behaviour. In addition ALSPAC provides measures of infant development and temperament at 6 months and therefore before maternal sensitivity was measured. This will allow us to also explore whether an association between maternal sensitivity at 12 months and later infant development is explained by more highly developed or more positively tempered infants evoking more positive maternal behaviour.

Project 4: It is not known whether more sensitive mothers choose to breastfeed or whether the act of breastfeeding impacts on maternal sensitivity. We will be able to further investigate this question by looking at whether it is women's intention to breastfeed during pregnancy or how much they actually breastfed that is associated with maternal sensitivity.

Project 5: In contrast to the wealth of literature on maternal sensitivity very little is known about the nature of father's sensitivity towards their infants. At the child in focus clinic a proportion of fathers brought their infants and participated in the parent-infant interaction instead of mothers. We would compare this to a sample of mother-infant interactions matched on socio-demographic variables from questionnaires administered at different stages. we would investigate whether father's sensitivity is associated with infant developmental measures as is the case for mothers. We will also compare the observed interactions withquestionnaire data on parenting from fathers and mothers.