Emotion Regulation in Context: Situational Effects on Infant and Caregiver Behavior

Emotion regulation is an important developmental task of the early years of life. However, situational effects are rarely examined. In this study, we evaluated situational effects on 7‐month‐olds' and their mothers' emotional expression and interactive regulation behavior, individual differences across situations, and intercorrelations within situations. Mother‐infant dyads (N = 225) were observed interacting during episodes from play, teaching, and still‐face situations that varied along 2 developmentally salient dimensions: emotional challenge (low vs. high), and attentional focus (face‐to‐face vs. object). Attentional focus affected mothers' behavior, whereas both challenge and attentional focus affected infants. Associations between mother and infant behaviors varied in each situation. High‐challenge situations provided more consistent individual differences in infants and more negative behavior from mothers. Findings have implications for appropriate assessment of emotion regulation in infancy.     

The Regulation of Infant Negative Emotions: The Role of Maternal Sensitivity and Infant‐Directed Speech Prosody

This study explored the role of maternal sensitivity and infant‐directed speech (IDS) prosody in infants’ expression and regulation of negative emotion. Seventy mothers and their 3‐month‐old infants were observed during the Still‐Face Paradigm (SFP). Maternal sensitivity and IDS prosody were assessed at baseline and infant negative affect in the baseline, still‐face, and reunion episodes. Results showed that prototypical IDS prosody characterized by wider fundamental frequency (F0) variability was related to decreases in infant's negative affect, but only if accompanied by maternal sensitivity. Infants of sensitive mothers who spoke with more prototypical IDS prosody showed better abilities to regulate negative affect during the SFP. When prototypical IDS prosody was accompanied by low maternal sensitivity, infants showed lower regulation of negative emotions. In conclusion, infant negative affect regulation in a dyadic setting is facilitated by an optimal combination of both more prototypical maternal IDS prosody and maternal sensitive responsiveness. Implications for the study of mother–infant interaction are discussed.     

The effect of the still‐face paradigm on infant behavior: A cross‐cultural comparison between mothers and fathers

Most still‐face paradigm (SFP) studies have been done in Western families with infant–mother dyads. The present study investigated the SFP pattern in 123 Dutch and 63 Chinese 4‐month‐old infants with mothers and fathers. The classic SFP effect was found for positive affect and gaze in both countries. For negative affect, Chinese infants showed a different SFP pattern than Dutch infants. With fathers, infants displayed a less pronounced SFP pattern for positive affect and an increase from the still face to the reunion for negative affect. Only a minority of infants showed the expected SFP pattern across episodes. Our findings support that infant emotion expression is influenced by parent gender and cultural context. An interesting avenue for further study is the exploration of the origins of within‐ and between‐gender and culture differences in affective communication between parents and infants.     

A Privileged Status for Male Infant‐Directed Speech in Infants of Depressed Mothers? Role of Father Involvement

Prior research showed that 5‐ to 13‐month‐old infants of chronically depressed mothers did not learn to associate a segment of infant‐directed speech produced by their own mothers or an unfamiliar nondepressed mother with a smiling female face, but showed better‐than‐normal learning when a segment of infant‐directed speech produced by an unfamiliar nondepressed father signaled the face. Here, learning in response to an unfamiliar nondepressed father’s infant‐directed speech was studied as a function both of the mother’s depression and marital status, a proxy measure of father involvement. Infants of unmarried mothers on average did not show significant learning in response to the unfamiliar nondepressed father’s infant‐directed speech. Infants of married mothers showed significant learning in response to male infant‐directed speech, and infants of depressed, married mothers showed significantly stronger learning in response to that stimulus than did infants of nondepressed, married mothers. Several ways in which father involvement may positively or negatively affect infant responsiveness to male infant‐directed speech are discussed.     

Behavior of Mothers and Infants With and Without Down Syndrome During the Still‐Face Procedure

There has been limited study of how the constitutional characteristics of infants with Down syndrome (DS) influence the patterning of their relations with caregivers. To assess natural and perturbed interactions between infants with DS and their mothers, we tested ten 6‐month‐old infants with DS and 20 typically developing (TD) 4‐month‐old of similar mental age. Participants were videotaped with their mothers in a natural face‐to‐face interaction, a brief period when the mothers adopted a still‐face, and a subsequent reengagement phase. There was little to distinguish the infants in the initial phase of natural interaction, but the mothers of infants with DS were more likely to show assertive warmth, and unlike in the case of mothers of TD infants, high maternal directiveness tended to be associated with lower levels of infant looking and lack of fussing. During the still‐face episode, infants of both groups showed reduced looking and smiling, although infants with DS tended to show lower levels of fussing and fewer in this group showed fussing in the reengagement phase. Therefore DS infants were somewhat similar to TD infants of comparable mental age in being responsive to the still‐face procedure, but showed indications of group differences in intense emotional reactivity.     

A transactional model of infant still‐face response and maternal behavior during the first year

The present study takes a transactional approach to extend understanding of temporal relations between parenting behaviors and infant response to the face‐to‐face still‐face, a widely used method assessing infants’ affective and behavioral response to a violation of social expectations. A low‐income, urban sample of 180 mothers and infants participated when infants were 4 and 6 months old. Directional relations between infants’ still‐face response (i.e., change in affect and gaze from interaction to still face) and three parenting dimensions were examined using cross‐lagged structural equation models. Infant still‐face response predicted later parenting behavior, while the reverse association was not significant. Specifically, infants with a greater reduction in positive affect from interaction to still face had parents with more positive parenting and less negative parenting behaviors 2 months later, controlling for prior parenting and concurrent infant behavior. Furthermore, infants who increased gaze to mother from interaction to still face had mothers who used more mental state talk 2 months later. Findings underscore the importance of examining transactional relations between infant and parent behaviors, and in particular highlight the influence of infants on parents. Acknowledging these infant‐effects is critical to the development and implementation of interventions targeting parent‐infant interactions.     

Very Preterm and Full‐Term Infants’ Response to Socio‐Emotional Stress: The Role of Postnatal Maternal Bonding

Very preterm (VPT) infants are at risk for altered socio‐emotional stress regulation, even in the absence of perinatal complications. Moreover, becoming a mother of a VPT infant is a traumatic event, which might affect the establishment of a bonding relationship toward the infant during the postnatal period. The main aim of the present study was to assess the association between maternal postnatal bonding and socio‐emotional stress response in 3‐month‐old VPT infants, compared to full‐term (FT) controls. Thirty‐three VPT and 28 FT infant‐mother dyads underwent the maternal Face‐to‐Face Still‐Face (FFSF) procedure to assess socio‐emotional stress regulation. Maternal postnatal bonding was measured through the Maternal Post‐Natal Attachment Scale (MPAS), which includes three scales: Quality of attachment, Absence of hostility, and Pleasure in interaction. The VPT infants exhibited less self‐directed and other‐directed regulatory behaviors during the Still‐Face episode. Mothers of VPT infants reported lower Quality of attachment compared to FT counterparts. Importantly, higher levels of Quality of attachment were associated with more other‐directed behaviors during the Still‐Face episode in FT dyads, whereas this was not observed in VPT dyads. In conclusion, VPT infants might be exposed to a double‐risk condition for socio‐emotional development, encompassing both difficulties in stress response and the exposure to a less‐than‐optimal maternal bonding.     

Gaze Behaviors of Preterm and Full‐Term Infants in Nonsocial and Social Contexts of Increasing Dynamics: Visual Recognition,Attention Regulation,and Gaze Synchrony

Although research has demonstrated poor visual skills in premature infants, few studies assessed infants’ gaze behaviors across several domains of functioning in a single study. Thirty premature and 30 full‐term 3‐month‐old infants were tested in three social and nonsocial tasks of increasing complexity and their gaze behavior was micro‐coded. In a one‐trial version of the visual recognition paradigm, where novel stimuli were paired with familiar stimuli, preterm infants showed longer first looks to novel stimuli. In the behavior response paradigm, which presented infants with 17 stimuli of increasing complexity in a predetermined “on‐off” sequence, premature infants tended to look away from toys more during presentation. Finally, during mother–infant face‐to‐face interaction, the most dynamic interpersonal context, preterm infants and their mothers displayed short, frequent episodes of gaze synchrony, and lag‐sequential analysis indicated that both mother and infant broke moments of mutual gaze within 2 sec of its initiation. The propotion of look away during the behavior response paradigm was related to lower gaze synchrony and more gaze breaks during mother–infant interactions. Results are discussed in terms of the unique and adaptive gaze patterns typical of low‐risk premature infants.     

Mind‐Mindedness as a Multidimensional Construct: Appropriate and Nonattuned Mind‐Related Comments Independently Predict Infant–Mother Attachment in a Socially Diverse Sample

In a socially diverse sample of 206 infant–mother pairs, we investigated predictors of infants’ attachment security at 15 months, with a particular emphasis on mothers’ tendency to comment appropriately or in a non‐attuned manner on their 8‐month‐olds’ internal states (so‐called mind‐mindedness). Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that higher scores for appropriate mind‐related comments and lower scores for non‐attuned mind‐related comments distinguished secure‐group mothers from their counterparts in the insecure‐avoidant, insecure‐resistant, and insecure‐disorganized groups. Higher scores for appropriate mind‐related comments and lower scores for non‐attuned mind‐related comments also independently predicted dichotomous organized/disorganized attachment. General maternal sensitivity predicted neither attachment security nor organization, although sensitivity was found to relate to dichotomous secure/insecure attachment specifically in the context of low socioeconomic status. The findings highlight how appropriate and non‐attuned mind‐related comments make independent contributions to attachment and suggest that mind‐mindedness is best characterized as a multidimensional construct.     

Relationship Between Maternal Sensitivity During Early Interaction and Maternal Ability in Perceiving Infants' Body and Face

Maternal sensitivity has been considered an indicator of mother‐infant quality interaction, however little is known about the perception processes associated to this parental behavior style. Here we aimed to explore the relationship between maternal sensitivity during a face‐to‐face interaction with their infants and maternal ability in perceiving infants' body and face. Thirty‐six 6 month‐old infants and their mothers were videotaped during a mother‐infant interaction to identify those with high and low sensitivity. Then, mothers were tested using an inversion effect paradigm requiring the visual discrimination of upright and inverted pictures of whole bodies and faces of their own and unfamiliar infants; this allowed estimation of their configural perceptual processing abilities. Results showed that high‐sensitivity mothers showed reduced body configural processing for others' infants as compared to configural processing of their own infant, whereas low‐sensitivity mothers were engaged in comparable body configural processing independently from infant identity. Infants' face configural processing did not distinguish between high‐ and low‐sensitivity mothers. Our findings suggest that high‐sensitivity mothers have refined their use of configural processing of body postures to be selective for their own infants, suggesting that this visuo‐perceptual strategy makes much more efficient the mothers' ability in detecting, discriminating and recognizing own infant's cues.     

Infants of Depressed Mothers Show Reduced Gaze Activity During Mother–Infant Interaction at 4 Months

Gaze is one of the main means of communication in young infants, and it has been shown to be important for subsequent socio‐emotional and cognitive development. Maternal depression is a well‐known risk factor for disrupting mother–infant interactions, but findings regarding gaze behavior in infants of depressed versus nondepressed mothers have been ambiguous. In this study, we examined gaze duration and activity in a sample of 27 infants of mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) and 49 infants of nondepressed mothers. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and diagnoses were confirmed in clinical interview. Infant gaze was assessed during 4‐month face‐to‐face interactions using continuous timed‐event coding with high temporal resolution. Although we found no differences in gaze duration, infants of PPD mothers had both significantly less Gaze On and also less Gaze Off events. Findings suggest that PPD is related to reduced gaze activity during mother–infant interaction in 4‐month‐olds. This reduced activity may have long‐term negative consequences for child development.     

Infants' Response to Maternal Mirroring in the Still Face and Replay Tasks

Infants' response to maternal mirroring was investigated in 4‐month‐old infants. Mother–infant dyads participated in the still face and replay tasks. Infants were grouped by those whose mothers did and did not mirror their behavior in the interactive phases of the tasks. In the still face task, infants with maternal mirroring showed more attention, smiling, and positive vocalizations across the phases, although both groups of infants demonstrated the still‐face effect with attention and smiling. Infants' social bidding to the mother during the still‐face phase correlated with mothers' mirroring behavior. In the replay task, infants with maternal mirroring demonstrated carryover effects with smiling; infants without maternal mirroring showed no awareness of change in their mothers' behavior. In both the still face and replay tasks, infants with maternal mirroring were more engaged with their mothers. Results suggest that maternal mirroring of infants' behavior affects infants' detection of, and response to, reciprocal interaction.     

Face Preferences for Infant‐ and Adult‐Directed Speakers in Infants of Depressed and Nondepressed Mothers: Association with Infant Cognitive Development

Face preferences for speakers of infant‐directed and adult‐directed speech (IDS and ADS) were investigated in 4‐ to 13.5‐month‐old infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers. Following 1 min of exposure to an ID or AD speaker (order counterbalanced), infants had an immediate paired‐comparison test with a still, silent image of the familiarized versus a novel face. In the test phase, ID face preference ratios were significantly lower in infants of depressed than nondepressed mothers. Infants' ID face preference ratios, but not AD face preference ratios, correlated with their percentile scores on the cognitive (Cog) scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant & Toddler Development (3rd Edition; BSID‐III), assessed concurrently. Regression analyses revealed that infant ID face preferences significantly predicted infant Cog percentiles even after demographic risk factors and maternal depression had been controlled. Infants may use IDS to select social partners who are likely to support and facilitate cognitive development.     

The Effect of Maternal Mirroring Behavior on Infants’ Early Social Bidding During the Still‐Face Task

Maternal mirroring behavior, which is a particularly salient form of maternal responsiveness, was investigated as a predictor of infants’ social bids in the Still‐Face Task. Mother–infant dyads engaged in the Still‐Face Task when infants were 5 months, on the cusp of the active emergence of social bidding during the still‐face phase of the task. Maternal mirroring of infants’ behavior during the interactive phases of the task was a primary predictor of infants’ social bids in the still‐face phase. When infants were divided into those who experienced higher maternal mirroring (maternal mirroring above the mean of the sample) and infants who experienced lower maternal mirroring (maternal mirroring at or below the mean), infants with higher maternal mirroring showed increases in nondistress vocalizations during the still‐face phase, indicative of social bidding, whereas the infants with lower maternal mirroring showed little change in nondistress vocalizations across the phases. Maternal mirroring allows infants to readily notice the relation between their own behaviors and those of their mothers, which may enhance infants’ early understanding that they can be active agents in instigating social interactions, as demonstrated by social bidding.     

Maternal Into‐The‐Face Behavior,Shared Attention,and Infant Distress During Face‐to‐Face Play at 12 Months: Bi‐directional Contingencies

We describe a new maternal intrusion behavior, moving a toy or hand “into‐the‐face” of the infant, and we investigate its bi‐directional associations with infant‐initiated shared attention, infant distress, and infant gaze, during mother–infant face‐to‐face play at 12 months. The play was videotaped split‐screen, with infants seated in a high chair. Videotapes were coded on a 1‐sec time base for mother and infant gaze (at partner, toy, both, or gaze away); infant distress; and maternal intrusion behavior, “into‐the‐face.” We defined “infant‐initiated shared attention” as mother and infant looking in the same second at a toy that the infant‐initiated interest in. We documented that maternal into‐the‐face behavior decreased the likelihood of infant‐initiated shared attention, increased the likelihood of infant distress, and decreased the likelihood of infant gazing away. Reciprocally, infant distress and gazing away increased the likelihood of mother into‐the‐face. In moments when the dyad was engaged in infant‐initiated shared attention, mother into‐the‐face was less likely. This work documents bi‐directional contingencies in the regulation of maternal intrusion and infant behavior during face‐to‐face play at 12 months. We suggest that mother into‐the‐face behavior disturbs an aspect of the infant's experience of recognition.     

Infants' Behavioral Strategies for Emotion Regulation With Fathers and Mothers: Associations With Emotional Expressions and Attachment Quality

This study examined 12‐ and 13‐month‐old infants' behavioral strategies for emotion regulation, emotional expressions, regulatory styles, and attachment quality with fathers and mothers. Eighty‐five infants participated in the Strange Situation procedure to assess attachment quality with mothers and fathers. Infants' behavioral strategies for emotion regulation were examined with each parent during a competing demands task. Emotion regulation styles were meaningfully related to infant‐father attachment quality. Although expressions of distress and positive affect were not consistent across mothers and fathers, there was consistency in infant strategy use, emotion regulation style, and attachment quality with mothers and fathers. Furthermore, infants who were securely attached to both parents showed greater consistency in parent‐oriented strategies than infants who were insecurely attached to one or both parents. Limitations of this study include the constrained laboratory setting, potential carryover effects, and a homogeneous, middle‐class sample.     

Relation Between Maternal Contingent Responsiveness and Infant Social Expectations

This study investigated the relation between maternal contingent responsiveness and 4‐ and 5‐month‐old infants' (N = 64) social expectation behavior in a still‐face procedure. Mothers were asked to interact with their infants for 2 min (interactive phase), remain still‐faced for 1 min (still‐face phase), and resume interaction for 2 min. Mother and infant behavior was assessed for the frequency of infant and mother smiles, mother smiles that were contingent to infant smiles and infant smiles were contingent to mother smiles during the interactive phase, and infant social bids to mother during the still‐face phase. Hierarchical regression showed that mother contingent smiles during the interactive phase accounted for unique variance in infant social bids during the still‐face phase beyond that accounted for by the frequency of mother and infant smiles during the interactive phase. These results support the view that young infants' social expectations and sense of self‐efficacy are formed within their interactions with their caregivers.     

Mental disease postpartum and parent‐infant interaction—evaluation of videotaped sessions

In order to investigate the influence of maternal mental illness postpartum on mother‐infant and father‐infant interaction, infants of 14 mentally ill women admitted to hospital within 6 months after delivery were compared to infants of 22 women who had been somatically ill. Videotaped sessions when the infant was 10 months old revealed that mothers in the psychiatric sample showed less sensitivity in comparison to mothers in the somatic sample. When the infant was 2 years old, mothers in the psychiatric sample showed less positive affect and less link‐infant follow (stimulation dimension) as compared to the somatic mothers. However, there were no differences between fathers in the psychiatric sample and fathers in the somatic sample in any of the interaction variables. In the psychiatric sample, fathers showed more warmth as compared to mothers. In the somatic sample, fathers scored higher than mothers on autonomy but lower than mothers on link‐infant follow (stimulation dimension). A possible interpretation of our data was that the mental illness of the mothers may lead to a more active parenting role of the father in order to buffer the deficit in the mother‐infant relation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rhythm in Mother‐Infant Interactions

Rhythmic behavior and the association of vocal rhythmic behavior with language development were studied in a sample of 30 mother‐infant dyads. Dyads were observed in 2 contexts (1 involved sharing pictures and the other sharing musical toys) when infants were 18 and 24 months of age. Vocal rhythmic behavior was seen in both contexts, and in both contexts mothers matched their infant's vocal rhythmic behavior at greater than chance rates. Greater matching tended to be associated with higher language scores whereas, counter to prediction, higher rates of maternal vocal rhythmic behavior tended to be associated with lower language scores. At 24 months of age, mother‐daughter dyads showed more matching than mother‐son dyads. These results suggest that differences in maternal production of vocal rhythmic behavior may foster different language learning strategies.     

Infant Nutrition and 12 and 18 Months Secure Base Behavior: An Exploratory Study

A notable omission in studies of developmental links to early nutritional deficiencies is infant attachment. In those few studies investigating associations between infant nutrition and attachment, nutrition was defined solely by physical growth, and infants had moderate–severe growth retardation. In this study, we utilized multiple markers of infant nutrition. Our sample consisted of 172 12‐month‐old Peruvian infants and their mothers from low‐income families, with a follow‐up assessment on 77 infants at 18 months. Infants were not severely malnourished, but did have micronutrient deficiencies. Anthropometry, dietary intake, and iron status were used as measures of infant nutrition. Based on infant behavior in a structured laboratory situation, Q‐sort techniques were used to rate three attachment markers: infant secure base behavior, interaction quality, and negative emotionality with mother. At 12 months, infant weight was positively related to interaction quality. At 18 months, infant iron status was positively related to secure base behavior. This pattern of findings remained even after statistically controlling for family socioeconomic status and maternal education. Our findings indicate that infant nutritional status is associated with markers of infant attachment and these associations are not restricted just to severely malnourished infants.