Associations between technoference,quality of parent-infant interactions,and infants’ vocabulary development

“Technoference” describes the distraction from interpersonal activities that can occur due to use of mobile screen devices. Focusing on parent-infant interactions, our study investigated the associations between potential sources of “technoference” and parental responsiveness, scaffolding and directiveness toward their infant, and coordinated joint attention (CJA). Previous research demonstrates that each of these dimensions is related to early language development. Potential sources of “technoference” employed in our study included the amount of time the parent spends on their mobile device per hour when with their infant; the number of audible notifications the parent receives per hour, the number of times per hour they check their device; and parents’ score on the Distraction In Social Relations and Use of Parent Technology (DISRUPT) scale. We investigated associations between our measures of parental “technoference” and infants’ language development, and whether parental responsiveness, scaffolding, directiveness or parent-infant CJA mediate associations between “technoference” and language. Frequency of audible notifications negatively predicted infant vocabulary, and this relationship was fully mediated by parental directiveness.     

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.     

Infant brain responses to live face-to-face interaction with their mothers: Combining functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with a modified still-face paradigm

BackgroundNon-invasive imaging techniques, such as fNIRS, allow us to shed light on the neural correlates of infant’s social-emotional development within the context of parent-infant interaction. On a behavioral level, numerous studies have investigated parent-infant interaction employing the still-face paradigm and found that the primary caregiver(s), often the mother, is an important coregulator of the infant’s physiological and behavioral stress response. However, limited information is available on how the infant’s brain reacts to the maternal cues during real-life interaction.MethodsTherefore, the main aim of the current study was to design a fNIRS paradigm to study live mother-infant interaction and to explore the neural correlates of infant affect regulation during real-life dyadic interaction. To this end, a modified still-face paradigm was designed, which consists of live face-to-face mother-infant, and stranger-infant, interaction episodes, including stressful, “still-face” and non-stressful, “happy-face” interaction blocks, combined with infant fNIRS imaging.ResultsHemodynamic brain responses were collected in n = 10 (6 females, mean age 230.2 ± 17.5 days), typically developing infants using the Hitachi ETG-4000 continuous-wave system (22 channels spanning the frontal cortex; 10 Hz system sampling frequency). Infants with usable data (n = 7) showed negative activations, indicated by a decrease in oxygenated hemoglobin, over the middle frontal gyrus in response to happy-face (reunion) interaction with their mothers compared to a female stranger; suggesting deactivation of brain regions associated with affect regulation. We also explored correlations between infant brain responses to maternal interaction and infant characteristics (temperament) as well as experiential/environmental factors (mothers’ self-reported depression symptoms).ConclusionsAlthough the current results are very preliminary, they overall suggest that live design in infant populations is doable and offers unique opportunities to study the neural mechanisms underlying early caregiver(s)-child interaction in a more naturalistic context. Restrictions, and implications, of the methodology are critically discussed.     

How are social-emotional and behavioral competences and problems at age 1 year associated with infant motor development? A general population study

Based on limitations in previous research evidence, we concluded that more research is needed for deeper understanding of how social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) outcomes among infant-toddler-aged children in the general population are associated with early motor development. In this study, we investigated associations between early competencies and problems, as measured by the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), and the timing of achievement of the main gross and fine motor milestones usually attained during the first year of life in a general population context. The study sample consisted of 515 infants (mean age 12.9 [SD 0.9] months) and their parents (514 mothers, 434 fathers), who were recruited in child health centers in Northern Finland. The infants were divided into two groups, based on their BITSEA screen status, and motor milestone achievement ages were compared across BITSEA screen status No Concern and Of-Concern infants. An Of-Concern screen status on the maternal and paternal Competence scale and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) item cluster was associated with later infant achievement ages for gross motor milestones. By contrast, infants who were screened to be in the Of-Concern range on the maternal Problem scale achieved gross motor milestones earlier than infants with the corresponding No Concern screen status. No significant associations were found between the paternal Problem scale screen status and infant motor development. In further analyses, the strongest associations were found between an Of-Concern screen status on the paternal Competence scale and ASD item cluster and infant motor development. The findings indicate that the inclusion of infant motor developmental information may assist early identification and the clinical interpretation of parental reports of early SEB problems. Clinical implications of the current findings are discussed in the paper.     

Parent Anxiety and Infant Pain During Pediatric Immunizations

Infants’ procedural pain and parents’ treatment room anxiety has been largely ignored in the research and clinical domains. To understand and manage infant procedural pain, it is essential to examine the correlates and potential predictors of this pain. Given that parent anxiety is a strong predictor of preschoolers’ procedural anxiety and pain, it is likely that parents play a role in infants’ distress during medical procedures. The purpose of this study was to thoroughly examine parent anxiety and its effects on infant procedural pain for 37 parent-infant dyads. Results demonstrated that only parent self-report measures were intercorrelated and several measures of parent distress correlated with measures of infant distress. Treatment implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.This article is based on the master's thesis of the first author under the direction of the second, at West Virginia University.     

Early home intervention and socio-emotional development of preterm infants

In the present study, the effects of developmental intervention and parent-infant interaction intervention on the social competence and emotional development of preterm infants were assessed. The results suggest that early home intervention focused on the infant's development facilitates social competence and adaptation, whereas intervention focused on the parent-infant interaction resulted in greater emotional security on the part of the infant. Social competence during the second year of life was predicted by social competence at 8 months and emotional security at 12 and 16 months. These findings have implications for early identification of infants at risk of later socio-emotional difficulties and intervention with dysfunctional mother-infant dyads.     

John Lind memorial symposium

John Lind, Professor of Pediatrics at the Karolinska Institute, emphasized that “the family is born in the maternity hospital.” He had a warm concern for all parents and infants and was extremely influential in both pediatric and child-rearing practices in Sweden and in the promotion of infant and caregiver-infant interaction research. Lind initiated and/or stimulated the scientific study of the infant's cry, parent-infant interactions, the role of the father in the perinatal environment, fetal and neonatal perception, and perinatal hospital practices. In many respects, his work predated contemporary emphases on perinatal coaching programs, social support (doula) during labor and delivery, parent education on childrearing, the use of ethnographic data for contemporary perinatal practices, interdisciplinary team approaches to study of infant care and development, changes in newborn nursery practices, and, above all, care and sensitivity to the initial synchronization of the parent-infant interaction system. This paper honors John Lind's contributions to our knowledge of infant development and parent-infant interaction, his influences on the field of pediatrics and the interdisciplinary study of infancy, and his commitment to enhancement of the quality of life for infants and their families. Although his life has ended, his ideas will continue to inspire and challenge the study of early human development for many years to come.     

The Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social–Emotional: A validation study of a mother‐report questionnaire on a clinical mother–infant sample

Mother‐report questionnaires of infant socioemotional functioning are increasingly used to screen for clinical referral to infant mental health services. The validity of the Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE; J. Squires, D. Bricker, K. Heo, & E. Twombly, 2002) was investigated in a sample of help‐seeking mothers with young infants. It was compared with independent observer‐rated dyadic interactions, and the quality of dyadic relationships was rated by expert clinicians. The ASQ:SE ratings also were compared with questionnaires on maternal psychological stress and distress. The ASQ:SE did not correlate significantly with either external ratings of dyadic interaction or clinically assessed relationship qualities, though the latter two were strongly associated with each other. In contrast, ASQ:SE scores were associated with questionnaires relating to maternal psychological distress. This was especially true for mothers classified as depressed. Furthermore, reports on the ASQ:SE were strongly predicted by maternal stress. The study points to some problems with the concurrent validity of the ASQ:SE in clinical samples. It also demonstrates a close link between mothers' psychological distress and their ratings of infant social and emotional functioning. Further research should investigate the extent to which the ASQ:SE specifically measures infant functioning or maternal distress, and how it functions in clinical versus nonclinical samples.     

Parent-infant synchrony and the social-emotional development of triplets

To study the social-emotional development of triplets, 23 sets of triplets, 23 sets of twins, and 23 singleton infants (N=138) were followed from birth to 2 years. Maternal depression and social support were assessed in the postpartum period, mother-infant and father-infant interaction and the home environment were observed at 3 months, a separation-reunion episode and a maternal interview were conducted at 12 months, and infant behavior problems were evaluated at 24 months. Lower parent-infant synchrony was observed for triplets. Triplets showed less distress during maternal separation and less approach at reunion. Mothers reported lower adjustment and differentiation among siblings for triplets than for twins. Higher internalizing problems were reported for triplets, and the triplet with intrauterine growth retardation showed the poorest outcomes. Behavior problems were predicted by medical risk, maternal depression, parent-infant synchrony, infant approach, and mother adjustment. Discussion focuses on developmental risk when the exclusivity of the parent-infant relationship is compromised.     

The interaction approach to early intervention

A brief summary of research, supportive of the idea that quality of parent-infant interaction has a powerful effect on infant development, introduces an early intervention model based on that proposition. Also, central to the interaction model is the knowledge that (1) parent and infant both contribute to what happens between them and that (2) a multitude of factors, environmental and internal to parent and infant, affect the parent, the infant, and their interaction. Ten sets of principles and strategies that convey the essence of the interaction model constitute the core of this article. The principles and strategies address the importance of identifying sources of support and stress in the family, of developing relationships with both parents, and of supporting positive interactions between parents and the infant's siblings. The limitations of this model are also addressed, especially in cases where the parent is the primary risk factor. The infant's exposure to nurturing adults in quality day care programs and a more clinical approach with the parent and infant, such as Selma Fraiberg's model, may be more effective with such families.     

Moving into tummy time,together: Touch and transitions aid parent confidence and infant development

“Back to sleep” messages can reduce prone practice for infants, with potential for motor delay and cranial deformation. Despite recommendations for “tummy time,” young infants fuss in prone, and parents report uncertainty about how to help infants tolerate prone positioning. We hypothesized that a Child'Space Method lesson, teaching proprioceptive touch and transitions to prone, would facilitate prone tolerance, parent behavioral support, and parent self-efficacy. This randomized study recruited parents (N = 37) of 2- to 5-month-old infants. On two visits, parents answered questions about infant behavior and parent experience, and played with their infant. Lesson group parents had the lesson following the first free play. One week later, lesson parents reported that infants tolerated more prone time and that parents showed more supportive behaviors in bringing infant to prone, as compared to waiting parents. Lesson parents’ efficacy, and infant behavior during play, trended in the hypothesized direction. The study demonstrated how a lesson in preparatory touch, and gradual transitions, promoted infant prone tolerance and also parent support of rolling, side-lying, and prone positioning. The lesson could be incorporated in parent education and early pediatric visits, helping infants and parents negotiate the prone challenge and setting the stage for further parent support of infant development.     

The effects of live parental infant-directed singing on infants,parents, and the parent-infant dyad: A systematic review of the literature

Singing to infants is widely accepted as an enjoyable, positive, and beneficial interaction between the parent and infant across cultures. Whilst the literature suggests that live infant-directed singing impacts the infant, the parent doing the singing and the dyad in powerful ways, no systematic review of the evidence has yet been conducted. To this end, this systematic review identified 21 studies that investigated the effect of live parental infant-directed singing. These impacts were categorized as either being directly related to the infant, the parent, or the parent-infant dyad. Three main themes – one for each of the impact categories considered – were identified using thematic analysis techniques; infant-directed singing impacts on: infants’ emotional regulation, provides validation of the parent’s role, and promotes affect attunement within the dyad. The findings reinforce the benefits of live parental infant-directed singing for all parties involved, particularly when parents sing to typically developing infants born at full term. In contrast, the findings were inconsistent for pre-term infants. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Parent mind-mindedness,sensitivity, and infant affect: Implications for attachment with mothers and fathers

Previous research examining links between parenting and attachment has focused on behavioral aspects of parenting such as sensitivity. However, by assessing how parents reflect on infants’ mental states (mind-mindedness) we gain a broader understanding of parenting and how it impacts attachment. Mothers, fathers, and their infants (N = 135) participated in the Still Face Paradigm (SFP) at 3-, 5-, and 7- months of age, and the Strange Situation with mothers at 12 months and fathers at 14 months. Parent sensitivity and infant affect were coded from the SFP and all videos were transcribed and later coded for parents’ use of appropriate and non-attuned mind-mindedness toward their infants. Attachment with each parent was coded from the Strange Situation. Mixed effects models examined trajectories of parents’ mind-mindedness in relation to parent sensitivity and infant affect across attachment groups. Significant differences between parent gender and attachment category were detected. Specifically, parents who were less sensitive were also less mind-minded toward insecure-avoidant infants; parents used more non-attuned mind-mindedness when infants had higher negative affect. Findings suggest that, in addition to parent sensitivity, parents’ use of appropriate and non-attuned mind-mindedness during a parent-infant interaction provides insight into the developing attachment relationship for mothers and fathers.     

Communication in early infancy: an arena of intersubjective learning

The present essay summarizes experimental, video-microanalytic and clinical aspects of the Papouseks' approach to early preverbal communication. The first section summarizes some of their video-microanalytic research on intuitive parenting and preverbal parent-infant communication. It describes the naturalistic preverbal learning context where infants learn and integrate experiences about themselves, the parent, their interrelatedness, and interactions with objects and events in the environment. The second section recapitulates research involving various kinds of experimental manipulations of the parents' communicative behavior and its effects on infant responses. The final section draws a bow to individual differences and what can be learned from the application of the still-face paradigm in clinical assessments of dysfunctional parent-infant communication.     

Infant behavioural effects of smartphone interrupted parent-infant interaction

Infants are vulnerable to changes in the dyadic synchrony with their caregivers, as demonstrated in numerous experiments employing the still-face paradigm. The sudden lack of attunement causes infant stress reactions and the still-face literature have suggested potential long-term costs of this in terms of development of social, emotional and cognitive skills. Acknowledging the rapid technological development accompanied by altered practices in the parent-infant interaction, the current study investigates infant behavioural reactions in a similar experimental paradigm, manipulating parental responsiveness and sensitivity in a slightly different manner. In the current study, the parent interrupts the ongoing interaction, simulating occupation with a smartphone, rather than making a ‘still-face’. In a cross-sectional design, infants of six, nine and twelve months display increased levels of protest behaviour in response to the interrupted interaction with their parent, together with lowered levels of positive engagement and social monitoring, suggesting similar behavioural responses as the still-face effect. Implications for infant social and emotional development, as well as for mindful tech habits are discussed.     

ASSESSING MEDIATED MODELS OF FAMILY CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO INFANT HOME VISITING: A TWO-PHASE LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS

The objective of this study was to assess whether a mediated model of change could account for the long-term effects of infant home-visiting services observed at ages 5 and 7 years in a high-risk cohort. Participants were 41 mothers and infants from low-income families who were referred to parent-infant home-visiting services during the first 9 months of life due to concerns about the caretaking environment. Services ended when infants reached 18 months of age. Families received between 0 and 18 months of weekly home visits based on infant age of entry into the study. During childhood (ages 5 and 7 years), teachers rated children's behavior problems using standardized instruments. Early home-visiting services accounted for positive child outcomes at 18 months, 5 years, and 7 years of age; however, earlier positive outcomes related to intervention did not account for intervention-related effects at later ages. Further inspection of the data revealed that two additional principles, one of escalating morbidity among less intensively served groups and one of generalized family problem-solving skills, were needed to account for the pattern of effects over time. We conclude that the "domino models" assessed by mediational analyses may be too simple to capture the intervention-related change processes occurring in high-risk cohorts over time.     

The effects of Brazelton intervention: A review

This article reviews research that has used the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS; Brazelton, 1984) as an intervention. It discusses separately the various effects NBAS intervention has been found to have in areas such as parent-infant interaction, infant development, temperament, and parental attitudes and satisfaction. Inconsistent findings are noted in each of these areas. This article then addresses issues that may play a role in the effectiveness of NBAS intervention, including the risk status of the population, the intensity of the intervention, and the receptivity of the parent. It concludes by suggesting that realistic goals be set concerning the expectations for early, short-term intervention such as the NBAS.     

Assessment of parents' interactions with their developmentally delayed infants

An instrument is described that is used to assess interaction style in parent-infant dyads in which the infant is handicapped or developmentally delayed. The rating scales were designed to be easy to use by professionals and trained nonprofessionals, to be applicable to children who are functioning between birth and 18 months developmental age, and to involve a minimal time commitment so that they could be used in the context of early intervention programs. The rating scales cover intrusive, responsive, and general social behavior by the parent and social and avoidant behavior by the child. Successful implementation of these scales is described.     

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.