MACI Training: Frequently Asked Questions

1. I am really interested in the MACI. Can I use it without training?

2. Is the MACI a validated instrument?

3. What are the areas of caregiver-infant interaction covered by the MACI?

4. Who is the training aimed at? Are there any pre-requisites?

5. I see that the MACI is suitable for 4-15 month olds, but can I go outside this age range?

6. How does the MACI relate to micro-analytic measures of parent-infant interaction?

7. Can I use the MACI as a screening tool for infants at risk of autism?

8. Can the same person be administrator and coder/rater of a given parent-infant dyad?

9. What equipment will I need?

The training and workshop

10. How often do you run the MACI training?

11. What does the training fee include and not include?

12. How long will it take to complete training?

13. I’m starting my project soon. How quickly can I complete training?

14. Is it worthwhile attending the 3-day workshop in itself?

15. Do I have to collect any data (i.e. have access to caregivers and babies) as part of training?

16. I can only make it to 2.5 days of the workshop. Will that be okay?

17. Is it possible to train at another time to fit the needs of my project, or elsewhere?

Post-workshop practice and assessments

18. Can I go straight onto the reliability assessment after completing the training?

19. What will happen if I don’t complete MACI training and the assessments within 12 months?

20. Why is the administration practice and assessment not an essential part of training?

 

1. I am really interested in the MACI-Infant. Can I use it without training?

The different kinds of behaviour that we see in caregivers and infants can vary widely, and in the MACI-Infant, coding in each global scale requires close examination of a various factors, including the frequency, duration, qualities and contextual considerations of particular behaviours. Use of the MACI-Infant, therefore, requires substantial specialist training, in common with other similar observational measures.

Our training package has been designed to provide the trainee with sufficient coding practice, face-to-face and remotely, before undergoing the reliability assessment. Obtaining reliability is crucial at the end of the training phase in order to become a certified reliable coder, after which the coder can use the MACI-Infant for research purposes. We also ask that trainees complete the reliability within 12 months of the workshop they attended (and preferably within 6 months), since our experience is that trainees who leave it too long can easily forget their initial training and any earlier practice coding feedback they received.

2. Is the MACI-Infant a validated instrument?

The MACI has been validated in a normative sample, which has now been published:

Wan, M. W., Brooks, A., Green, J., Abel, K., & Elmadih, A. (2016). Psychometrics and validation of a brief rating measure of parent-infant interaction: Manchester assessment of caregiver–infant interaction.International Journal of Behavioral Development, 0165025416631835.

There have also been a number of further publications using the MACI in at-risk and normative groups which add to the measure’s validity. We are keen to hear from any groups who would like to further explore the validity of the instrument in particular groups, or cultural contexts.

Please note that the MACI is not a measure of parent-child attachment, but does examine caregiver sensitivity.

3. I’ve seen slightly different versions of the MACI. Which is the up-to-date one?

The measure has evolved as more studies have been conducted using it, and is now called the MACI-Infant, or in full: Manchester Assessment of Caregiver-Child Interaction – Infant Version. As we now also have the MACI-Toddler (an adapted and extended version), we changed part of the ‘MACI’ umbrella acronym from ‘Infant’ to ‘Child’.

The current version of the MACI-Infant comprises 8 scales: 2 caregiver scales (sensitive responsiveness, nondirectiveness), 4 infant scales (attentiveness to caregiver, positive affect, negative affect, liveliness) and 2 dyadic scales (mutuality, intensity of engagement). One of the main changes has been the inclusion of the ‘infant negative affect’ scale, whereas negative afect was previously incorporated into a single infant (‘positive’) affect scale. This change was in large part in response to our findings in the validation paper.

The MACI-Infant was previously called SIM-PI until 2013.

4. Who is the training aimed a? Are there any prerequisites?

The training is suitable for researchers who wish to study the qualities or global aspects of caregiver-infant interaction from videotaped clips (6 minutes) in a systematic way. The measure is therefore a research, rather than clinical, tool.

The training assumes a general understanding of parenting behaviour, infant development, and especially, the concept of caregiver sensitivity. Experience of working with parents and/or infants is helpful. However, no prior experience in observing caregiver-infant interactions in a research context is needed. Potential trainees should consider the time commitment needed to train and pass reliability before applying, which has a 12 month limit.

5. I see that the MACI is suitable for 4-15 month olds, but can I go outside this age range?

We recommend the MACI-Toddler for 12-36 month old children, which has been adapted from MACI-Infant and has 9 scales. We have demonstrated continuity on some of the scales from the infant version. The MACI-Infant can be used for 3-month-olds but young infants tend to be more suited to face-to-face interaction, which would require another measurement tool.

6. How does the MACI relate to micro-analytic measures of parent-infant interaction?

The MACI is a rating measure of interaction based on global observations over the course of the clip. This approach describes qualitative aspects of interaction, and does not provide counts or durations of behaviour. If you wish to measure how often the child looks at the caregiver, for example, then this must be measured separately.

7. Can I use the MACI as a screening tool for infants at risk of autism?

This measure has not been designed to be nor validated as a screening tool. It is possible to take a cut-off score based on a theoretically or statistically-derived basis for a study sample in the case of research, but there is no individual cut-off point for ‘at-risk’ interaction. However, the MACI can be used to track any changes in interaction via parenting-based or relationship-based intervention. We have published a series of papers based on our BASIS-VIPP intervention (see Green et al. in references).

8. Can the same person be administrator and coder/rater of a given parent-infant dyad?

Yes, but the coder must rate blind to any information about the family. Since the administrator often also collects other information about the family (or the family freely shares this information during a study session – this is not really possible to control for), it may not be possible for the administrator to remain blind. Therefore, usually, it is necessary for a different person to videotape the interaction, who does not have to be a reliable coder.

If the administrator has not undergone MACI training, some experience taking videotaped interactions is strongly recommended to prevent collecting ‘uncodeable’ video clips. To facilitate this, we offer a videotaped interaction feedback service for a small fee.

9. What equipment will I need?

Equipment is fairly minimal: A camcorder, and a small selection of toys and floor mat are required, and more detail is given during training over the specifics. Fixed cameras in a lab can also be used, but we prefer a hand-held camcorder.