Non-verbal and verbal parental mentalization as predictors of infant attachment security: Contributions of parental embodied mentalizing and mind-mindedness and the mediating role of maternal sensitivity

Interest in studying the relative contributions of verbal (e.g., maternal mind-mindedness [MM]) and non-verbal dimensions (i.e., parental embodied mentalizing [PEM]) of parental mentalization to child socio-emotional development is relatively recent. To date, only one study has addressed this issue in relation to child attachment security, suggesting a complementary and unique contribution of each one. The purpose of the present study was to further examine the specific contribution of PEM to infant attachment security by considering MM. In addition, this study aimed to explore the mediating role of maternal sensitivity linking PEM, MM to infant attachment security within 110 mother-infant dyads at moderate psychosocial risk. The two dimensions of parental mentalization (PEM and MM) were assessed on the basis of observations made during a videorecorded sequence of mother-child interactions in a context of free play with and without toys when the infants were 8 months old. The Maternal Behavior Q-Sort was used to measure the mothers’ sensitivity in a natural setting based on observations of daily mother-child interactions, also when the infants were about 8 months old. Attachment security was measured using The Strange Situation Procedure at infant age 16 months. The results showed positive correlations between maternal sensitivity and both verbal and non-verbal measures of parental mentalization. The mediation analyses first revealed that PEM had a significant indirect effect on attachment security, with sensitivity being identified as a mediator in this association. No indirect effect linking MM and attachment security via sensitivity was observed. These results highlight the contribution of PEM to maternal sensitivity and show maternal sensitivity to be a factor that partly explains the influence of PEM on attachment security in children.     

Effects of Early Parenting Interventions on Parents and Infants: A Meta-Analytic Review

This systematic review evaluates the efficacy of parenting interventions on parent, infant and parent-infant relationship outcome measures for parents of infants under 12 months old. Parent outcomes examined included competence, and confidence; baby outcomes included infant behaviours of crying, settling, and sleeping problems and parent-infant relationship outcomes included parental responsiveness. Systematic searches of five databases were carried out. In total, 36 randomised controlled trials over the past 35 years were included in the meta-analyses, with a total of 4880 participants. Interventions were carried out either during pregnancy or within the first 12 months after birth and involved teaching specific strategies and provision of information on infant development and behaviour. Mean effect sizes were obtained using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was found on parent responsiveness and infant sleep. Potential moderator variables were assessed for these two outcomes using the SEM approach. Results showed that early parenting interventions are effective in improving parental responsiveness (d?=?0.77), and improving or preventing infant sleep problems (d?=?0.24), but not crying problems (d?=?0.27) possibly due to low power. No conclusions could be drawn in regards to parental competence or confidence. Moderator analysis showed that for interventions aimed at improving responsiveness, briefer interventions were more effective than longer ones; and studies published more recently reported smaller effects than older studies. No other moderators influenced the assessed intervention outcomes. The findings of this study provide further evidence for the positive effects of early parenting interventions for infants under 12 months of age, however future research is needed to assess intervention effects on parental competence and confidence.     

Mother, child, and situational correlates of toddlers' social competence

Mother, child, and situational correlates of toddlers' social competence in the second year were investigated in a sample of 24 children (11 girls, 13 boys). At 12 months, children's temperament (perceived difficulty) was assessed by questionnaire. Between 14 and 17 months, the children's everyday interaction experiences (maternal responsiveness and involvement) were observed at home. At 24 months, the children's social competence (responsiveness, use of social resources) and the quality of maternal behavior (responsiveness, availability) were assessed in a laboratory play room. The children's social competence was positively related to the contemporary (24 months) as well as the preceding (during the second year) maternal behavior. High-quality maternal behavior during the second year was associated with the child's low perceived difficulty at 12 months. Relationships between child and mother behavior particularly occurred in situations providing some challenge to the child.     

The link between maternal and child verbal abilities: An indirect effect through maternal responsiveness

Language abilities in early childhood show stability over time and play an important role in the development of other cognitive processes. Identifying modifiable environmental risk factors is important to informing prevention and early intervention efforts. Maternal verbal ability has been previously linked to child verbal ability. The current study examined whether maternal and child verbal abilities were linked indirectly through early childhood maternal responsiveness. Data come from a longitudinal birth cohort study. Participants included 133 mothers and their children recruited from maternity wards shortly after birth. Maternal verbal ability was measured using the Vocabulary subtest from the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition (child age 8 months). Child verbal ability was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (36 months). A latent maternal responsiveness variable was estimated using three developmentally sensitive indicators; one during infancy (child age 8 months) and two when children were 36 months. Results of a structural equation model indicated a significant indirect effect from maternal verbal abilities to child verbal abilities through maternal responsiveness. This indirect path was significant even after inclusion of another indirect path from maternal executive functioning to child verbal ability through maternal responsiveness (which was not significant). Future studies will benefit from experimental, genetically sensitive and/or cross‐lagged designs to allow for conclusions related to directionality and causality. This body of research has implications for the study of the intergenerational transmission of verbal abilities and associated skills, behaviours and adaptive outcomes.     

Parental behaviour and children's creation of imaginary companions: A longitudinal study

This longitudinal study examined whether parenting quality, parental behaviours and children's temperament at 6 months of age predicted children's creations of imaginary companions (ICs) at 44 months of age. At six months, parenting quality and parental behaviours were measured using the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment, and the frequency of mental-state references made during mother–infant interactions was recorded. Temperament was assessed using the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Parents then completed questionnaires assessing whether their children had ICs at 44 months of age. The results revealed that only the approach characteristic of temperament marginally predicted children's IC status. Results of the parental measures showed that parents of children with ICs were more likely to attribute mental states to their child and to refrain from intruding in their child's behaviours than parents of children without ICs. The results indicated that parental behaviours are important for children's creation of ICs.     

Developmental stimulation in child care centers contributes to young infants’ cognitive development

This study examined whether the quality of caregiver behavior in child care centers contributes to infant cognitive development at 9 months of age. Sixty-four infants (34 boys) were observed with their primary caregivers in child care centers at 3, 6, and 9 months of age. Caregiver behavior was rated for sensitivity and for stimulation of infant development during one-to-one caregiving interactions. Infant cognitive development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II (Mental Development Index). Higher levels of developmental stimulation in the centers predicted higher levels of infant cognitive development at 9 months, beyond infant cognitive development at 3 months (just before entering child care), parental education, and maternal sensitivity. The results suggest that even small increases in developmental stimulation provided in child care centers in the first year of life may foster infants’ cognitive development.     

Affect regulation and synchrony in mother—infant play as precursors to the development of symbolic competence

This study examines relationships between organizing processes of affective communication in infancy and the development of symbolic competence. Thirty six mother—infant dyads were observed at 3 and 9 months, and 32 dyads were reassessed at 24 months. Mother's and infant affective states during face-to-face play at 3 and 9 months were coded in .25-second frames. The underlying structure of infant affect and the time-lag synchrony between mother and infant affective states were assessed with time-series analyses. In addition, interactions at 3 and 9 months were assessed for the global level of infant positive affect and maternal affect attunement. At 2 years, three dimensions of symbolic competence were evaluated: symbolic play, verbal IQ, and the child's use of internal states words. Infant affect regulation at 3 months, defined by the existence of a non-random, stochastic-cyclic organization of affective states, predicted all three domains of symbolic competence at 2 years. Maternal synchrony and attunement each had an independent contribution to the prediction of symbolic play and internal state talk. The microanalytic and global indices of affect each added meaningfully to the prediction of symbolic functioning. The organization of behavioral sequences into coherent affective configurations is discussed as a possible precursor to the general capacity to develop symbols. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Early maternal stimulation and the development of cognitive competence and attention of preterm infants

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between several dimensions of maternal interactive behaviours, and cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. Of special interest was the question of whether high levels of maternal stimulation and activity may have negative consequences for the development of preterm infants. Sixty-six preterm infants and their mothers were followed longitudinally and videotaped in interaction situations at home, at the infant age of 6, 9 and 12 months. Mothers behaviours were scored on involvement, sensitive responsiveness, non-intrusiveness and level of activity. Moreover, infant cognitive status was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months of age, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Infant ability in problem solving and attention were assessed in two problem solving tasks at 18 and 24 months of age. The results showed that infant cognitive status at 12 and 24 months was best predicted by maternal involvement and infant responsiveness. No significant relationships were found between maternal interactive behaviours and infant ability in problem solving and attention. More importantly, there was no indication that high levels of maternal stimulation or intrusiveness may have a negative impact on later cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A longitudinal examination of daily amounts of screen time and technoference in infants aged 2–11 months and associations with maternal sociodemographic factors

This study aimed to examine longitudinal developmental patterns in the daily amounts of screen time and technoference in infants aged 2, 4, 7, and 11 months and to examine associations with maternal sociodemographic factors across all age groups.The results showed that the amount of screen time varied between 6 and 17 min a day, while interruptions in mother-infant interactions due to maternal use of digital technology occurred between 5 and 6 times a day. There was a significant increase in infant screen time from 2 to 4 months, from 4–7 months, and from 7–11 months, and in technoference from 2 to 4 months and from 4–7 months. Maternal age and household income were not associated with infant screen time, but maternal educational level was negatively associated with infant screen time throughout the first year. No associations were found between technoference and maternal age, maternal educational level, or household income.Future research focusing on infant screen time and technoference should aim at including samples that reflect the general population, include measures of screen time and technoference that do not rely on parental report, and include measures of the effects of early infant screen time and technoference on later development.     

Convergence of multiple sources of information on infant individuality: neonatal behavior,infant behavior,and temperament reports

To shed light on the notion of enduring individual infant characteristics, convergence of three presumably interrelated measures of infant individuality was examined. Data collected included standardized behavioral assessments of the newborn (NBAS), maternal reports of infant temperament (at 3 and 9 months), and naturalistic observations of infant behavior at 1, 3, and 9 months. Infant temperament reports were significantly stable from 3 to 9 months; observed infant fussiness was significantly stable from 1 to 3 and 3 to 9 months; observed altertness/social responsiveness was not stable over time. Analyses of convergence of neonatal and infant behavior revealed that 9-month infant alertness/social responsiveness was significantly correlated with neonatal habituation. Similar analyses of neonatal behavior and reported temperament revealed that 3-month reported dullness was significantly correlated with neonatal habituation and range of state. At 9 months, temperament ratings of infant fussiness and unpredictability were significantly correlated with autonomic stability; fussiness was also significantly correlated with regulation of state. Finally, no significant relationships were observed between reported temperament and observed infant behavior. These results fail to support a simple notion of enduring individuality in infants over their first year of life.     

Separation-individuation as a family transactional process in the transition to parenthood

This is a study of the impact of prebirth level of parental and marital individuation on the course of parent-infant and infant development during the first postnatal year. Support was found for the first hypothesis, namely, that a couple's composite individuation profile, taking into account the prebirth separation-individuation of the father and the mother, and their marriage, would be associated with positive infant development and parent-infant transactions related to separation-individuation and mutuality during the first postnatal year. A second hypothesis, that maternal individuation would most strongly predict infant and parent-infant development at 6 months, while paternal individuation would emerge at 1 year as a strong predictor, was not supported. It was found instead that prebirth maternal and paternal individuation were equally strong predictors at six months, while maternal individuation was the primary predictor at 12 months. Other findings on the direct and indirect associations between prebirth parental and marital individuation and postnatal parent-infant transactions suggest that early separation-individuation processes result from a complex configuration of triadic mother-father-infant transactions.     

Pratiques éducatives parentales face à des enfants porteurs d'une trisomie 21 et des enfants non déficients : étude comparative d'une activité conjointe d'encastrement en période précoce

This research studies the varied forms of parental supervision in early period. With this intention, thirty-six dyads non-defective parent-child of second year of life and thirty-six dyads parent-child carrying a Down syndrome, of the same age of development were thus observed, during a situation of play of embedding. The cluster analysis revealed the existence of four forms of parental guidance: one non-directive form and three directives forms corresponding to the communication of increasingly precise information for the resolution. Also, the four forms are very similar between the two groups. In conclusion, our results suggest, that independently of the groups, the varied forms of parental guidance could be regulated by the parental goals.     

The cost of simplifying complex developmental phenomena: a new perspective on learning to walk

Researchers can study complex developmental phenomena with all the inherent noise and complexity or simplify behaviors to hone in on the essential aspects of a phenomenon. We used the development of walking as a model system to compare the costs and benefits of simplifying a complex, noisy behavior. Traditionally, researchers simplify infant walking by recording gait measures as infants take continuous, forward steps along straight paths. Here, we compared the traditional straight‐path task with spontaneous walking during 20 minutes of free play in 97 infants (10.75–19.99 months of age). We recorded infants’ footfalls on an instrumented floor to calculate gait measures in the straight‐path and free‐play tasks. In addition, we scored videos for other critical aspects of spontaneous walking—steps per bout, shape of walking path, and step direction. Studying infant walking during free play incurred no cost compared with the straight‐path task, but considerable benefits. Straight‐path gait was highly correlated with spontaneous gait and both sets of measures improved with walking age, validating use of the straight‐path task as an index of development. However, a large proportion of free‐play bouts were too short to permit standard gait measures, and most bouts were curved with omnidirectional steps. The high prevalence of these “non‐canonical” bouts was constant over development. We propose that a focus on spontaneous walking, the phenomenon we ostensibly wish to explain, yields important insights into the problems infants solve while learning to walk. Other areas of developmental research may also benefit from retaining the complexity of complex phenomena.     

Stability of language in childhood: a multiage, multidomain, multimeasure, and multisource study

The stability of language across childhood is traditionally assessed by exploring longitudinal relations between individual language measures. However, language encompasses many domains and varies with different sources (child speech, parental report, experimenter assessment). This study evaluated individual variation in multiple age-appropriate measures of child language derived from multiple sources and stability between their latent variables in 192 young children across more than 2 years. Structural equation modeling demonstrated the loading of multiple measures of child language from different sources on single latent variables of language at ages 20 months and 48 months. A large stability coefficient (r = .84) obtained between the 2 language latent variables. This stability obtained even when accounting for family socioeconomic status, maternal verbal intelligence, education, speech, tendency to respond in a socially desirable fashion, and child social competence. Stability was also equivalent for children in diverse childcare situations and for girls and boys. Across age, from the beginning of language acquisition to just before school entry, aggregating multiple age-appropriate methods and measures at each age and multiple reporters, children show a strong stability of individual differences in general language development.     

Preterm behavior,maternal adjustment,and competencies in the newborn period: What influence do they have at 12 months postnatal age?

This article examines whether preterm newborns' behavior and their mother's adjustment to the premature birth and infant hospitalization have an influence on subsequent infant development and behavior, maternal adjustment, and mother–infant relationship. The behavioral competencies of 42 well, singleton preterm infants (mean gestational age=31 weeks) were assessed, as were their mothers' adjustment (depression and coping) and competencies (knowledge of child development). At 12 months of postnatal age, child competencies (development and behavior) were assessed, together with maternal adjustment (parenting stress and depression). Mother–infant interaction also was observed. Regression analyses indicated that in the newborn period, maternal positive reappraisal and a planful coping style, more knowledge of child development, and previous experience with baby‐sitting were associated with better infant development (p=.002), maternal adjustment (p=.012), and mother–child relationship (p=.002) at 12 months. Newborn infant muscle‐tone maturity was predictive of better motor quality at 12 months (p=.011), and being a firstborn infant who was more sleepy and drowsy was associated with subsequent higher maternal parenting stress (p=.007). Social and educational support groups combined with an approach that assists mothers to develop problem‐solving coping styles may have a beneficial influence on infant development.     

Language development at 18 months is related to multimodal communicative strategies at 12 months

The present study investigated the degree to which an infants’ use of simultaneous gesture–speech combinations during controlled social interactions predicts later language development. Nineteen infants participated in a declarative pointing task involving three different social conditions: two experimental conditions (a) available, when the adult was visually attending to the infant but did not attend to the object of reference jointly with the child, and (b) unavailable, when the adult was not visually attending to neither the infant nor the object; and (c) a baseline condition, when the adult jointly engaged with the infant's object of reference. At 12 months of age measures related to infants’ speech-only productions, pointing-only gestures, and simultaneous pointing–speech combinations were obtained in each of the three social conditions. Each child's lexical and grammatical output was assessed at 18 months of age through parental report. Results revealed a significant interaction between social condition and type of communicative production. Specifically, only simultaneous pointing–speech combinations increased in frequency during the available condition compared to baseline, while no differences were found for speech-only and pointing-only productions. Moreover, simultaneous pointing–speech combinations in the available condition at 12 months positively correlated with lexical and grammatical development at 18 months of age. The ability to selectively use this multimodal communicative strategy to engage the adult in joint attention by drawing his attention toward an unseen event or object reveals 12-month-olds’ clear understanding of referential cues that are relevant for language development. This strategy to successfully initiate and maintain joint attention is related to language development as it increases learning opportunities from social interactions.     

Attention and executive functioning in infancy: Links to childhood executive function and reading achievement

This study provides the first analyses connecting individual differences in infant attention to reading achievement through the development of executive functioning (EF) in infancy and early childhood. Five‐month‐old infants observed a video, and peak look duration and shift rate were video coded and assessed. At 10 months, as well as 3, 4, and 6 years, children completed age‐appropriate EF tasks (A‐not‐B task, hand game, forward digit span, backwards digit span, and number Stroop). Children also completed a standardized reading assessment and a measure of verbal intelligence (IQ) at age 6. Path analyses on 157 participants showed that infant attention had a direct statistical predictive effect on EF at 10 months, with EF showing a continuous pattern of development from 10 months to 6 years. EF and verbal IQ at 6 years had a direct effect on reading achievement. Furthermore, EF at all time points mediated the relation between 5‐month attention and reading achievement. These findings may inform reading interventions by suggesting earlier intervention time points and specific cognitive processes (i.e. 5‐month attention).     

Infant Developmental Outcomes: A Family Systems Perspective

The aim of the current study was to examine whether parental mental health, parent–infant relationship, infant characteristics and couple's relationship factors were associated with the infant's development. Forty‐two families took part at three time points. The first, at 3 months postpartum, involved a video recorded observation (CARE‐index) of parent–infant interactions. At 5 months postpartum, in‐depth clinical interviews (the Birmingham Interview of Maternal Mental Health) assessed parental mental health and parental perceptions of their relationship with their infant, their partner and their infant's characteristics. Finally, the Bayley Scales III was carried out 17 months postpartum to assess the infants' cognitive, language and motor development. A higher mother–infant relationship quality was significantly associated with more optimal language development, whilst a higher father–infant relationship quality was associated with more advanced motor development. Additionally, maternal postnatal post‐traumatic stress disorder had a negative impact on the infant's cognitive development, whilst maternal prenatal depression was associated with a less optimal infant's language development. The largest prediction was afforded by parental perceptions of their infant's characteristics. The findings indicate that such perceptions may be crucial for the infant's development and imply that negative internal parental perceptions should be considered when assessing risk factors or designing interventions to prevent negative child outcomes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.