The relation between infant freezing and the development of internalizing symptoms in adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

Given the long‐lasting detrimental effects of internalizing symptoms, there is great need for detecting early risk markers. One promising marker is freezing behavior. Whereas initial freezing reactions are essential for coping with threat, prolonged freezing has been associated with internalizing psychopathology. However, it remains unknown whether early life alterations in freezing reactions predict changes in internalizing symptoms during adolescent development. In a longitudinal study (N = 116), we tested prospectively whether observed freezing in infancy predicted the development of internalizing symptoms from childhood through late adolescence (until age 17). Both longer and absent infant freezing behavior during a standard challenge (robot‐confrontation task) were associated with internalizing symptoms in adolescence. Specifically, absent infant freezing predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms consistently across development from relatively low symptom levels in childhood to relatively high levels in late adolescence. Longer infant freezing also predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms, but only up until early adolescence. This latter effect was moderated by peer stress and was followed by a later decrease in internalizing symptoms. The findings suggest that early deviations in defensive freezing responses signal risk for internalizing symptoms and may constitute important markers in future stress vulnerability and resilience studies.     

Examining antecedents of infant attachment security with mothers and fathers: An ecological systems perspective

Taking an ecological systems perspective, early parent–child relationships can be affected by interactions between systems where some are more proximally linked to the child than others. Socioeconomic status, a distal factor, is associated with social functioning during childhood, but research on its association with functioning during infancy, particularly attachment, is scant and inconsistent. Moreover, it is not clear how distal factors affect infant functioning. Other systems such as marital adjustment and parenting may moderate or mediate relations between distal factors and infant attachment. The current longitudinal study (n = 135) examined the role of various systems – parental resources, marital functioning, parental sensitivity and involvement – in early infancy (3-, 5-, 7-months) on infant–mother (12-months) and infant–father (14-months) attachment security. Findings supported moderating processes but in different ways for infant–mother versus infant–father dyads. Implications for future studies and interventions are discussed.     

Polymorphism in the CHRNA4 gene is associated with rapid scene categorization performance

The CHRNA4 gene is known to be associated with individual differences in attention. However, its associations with other cognitive functions remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of genetic variations in CHRNA4 on rapid scene categorization by 100 healthy human participants. In Experiment 1, we also conducted the Attention Network Test (ANT) in order to examine whether the genetic effects could be accounted for by attention. CHRNA4 was genotyped as carrying the TT, CT, or CC allele. The scene categorization task required participants to judge whether the category of a scene image (natural or man-made) was consistent with a cue word displayed at the response phase. The target–mask stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) ranged from 13 to 93 ms. In comparison with CC-allele carriers, CT- and TT-allele carriers responded more accurately at the long SOA (93 ms) only during natural-scene categorization. In contrast, we observed no consistent association between CHRNA4 and the ANT, and no intertask correlation between scene categorization and the ANT. To validate our natural-scene categorization results, Experiment 2, carried out with an independent sample of 100 participants and a different stimulus set, successfully replicated the association between CHRNA4 genotypes and natural-scene categorization accuracy at long SOAs (67 and 93 ms). Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, that genetic variations in CHRNA4 can moderately contribute to individual differences in natural-scene categorization performance.     

Continuity in social cognition from infancy to childhood

Research examining the development of social cognition has largely been divided into two areas: infant perception of intentional agents, and preschoolers’ understanding of others’ mental states and beliefs (theory of mind). Many researchers have suggested that there is continuity in social cognitive development such that the abilities observed in infancy are related to later preschool ability, yet little empirical evidence exists for this claim. Here, we present preliminary evidence that capacities specific to the social domain contribute to performance in social cognition tasks both during infancy and in early childhood. Specifically, looking time patterns in an infant social cognition task correlated with preschool theory of mind; however, no such relationship was found for infants in a nonsocial cognition task.     

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).     

Serotonin transporter and BDNF polymorphisms interact to predict trait worry

Background and Objectives: Excessive worry is associated with a range of psychological disorders. While previous studies have examined genes associated with a range of different anxiety phenotypes, none have explored genes specifically associated with the general tendency to worry. Design: The present study tested associations between trait worry and functional polymorphisms of three candidate genes: the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) of the SLC6A4 gene, the Val66Met region of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, and the Val158Met region of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. Methods: A heterogeneous sample of adult participants (n = 173) completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and provided DNA samples for genotyping. Results: Results revealed a significant interaction between 5-HTTLPR and BDNF genotypes predicting levels of worry. Specifically, there was a significant positive association between 5-HTTLPR short alleles and PSWQ scores, but only in BDNF met allele carriers. COMT genotype was not significantly associated levels of worry, nor did COMT interact with 5-HTTLPR or BDNF genotypes to predict PSWQ scores. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence about the putative genetic etiology of worrying. Key limitations of the present study and corresponding directions for future research on this topic are discussed.     

Infants’ sense of approximate numerosity: Heritability and link to other concurrent traits

The ability to perceive approximate numerosity is present in many animal species, and emerges early in human infants. Later in life, it is moderately heritable and associated with mathematical abilities, but the etiology of the Approximate Number System (ANS) and its degree of independence from other cognitive abilities in infancy is unknown. Here, we assessed the phenotypic specificity as well as the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the ANS in a sample of 5-month-old twins (N = 514). We found a small-to-moderate but statistically significant effect of genetic factors on ANS acuity (heritability = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.33), but only when differences in numerosity were relatively large (1:4 ratio). Non-verbal ability assessed with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) was found to be heritable (0.47; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.57) and the phenotypic association between ANS acuity and non-verbal ability performance was close to zero. Similarly, we found no association between ANS acuity and general attention during the task. An unexpected weak but statistically significant negative association between ANS acuity and scores on the receptive language scale of the MSEL was found. These results suggest that early ANS function may be largely independent from other aspects of non-verbal development. Further, variability in ANS in infancy seems to, to some extent, reflect genotypic differences in the population.

Highlights

• Assessing 514 infant twins with eye tracking, we found that infants' sense of approximate numerosity is heritable and not positively associated with concurrent attentional, cognitive or motor abilities.
• These results have implications for our understanding of development of mathematical ability and the link between cognitive abilities early in postnatal life.

     

Development of brain functional connectivity and its relation to infant sustained attention in the first year of life

The study of brain functional connectivity is crucial to understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the improved behavioral performance and amplified ERP responses observed during infant sustained attention. Previous investigations on the development of functional brain connectivity during infancy are primarily confined to the use of functional and structural MRI techniques. The current study examined the relation between infant sustained attention and brain functional connectivity and their development during infancy with high‐density EEG recordings. Fifty‐nine infants were tested at 6 (N = 15), 8 (N =14), 10 (N = 17), and 12 (N = 13) months. Infant sustained attention was defined by measuring infant heart rate changes during infants’ looking. Functional connectivity was estimated from the electrodes on the scalp and with reconstructed cortical source activities in brain regions. It was found that infant sustained attention was accompanied by attenuated functional connectivity in the dorsal attention and default mode networks in the alpha band. Graph theory analyses showed that there was an increase in path length and a decrease in clustering coefficient during infant sustained attention. The functional connectivity within the visual, somatosensory, dorsal attention, and ventral attention networks and graph theory measures of path length and clustering coefficient were found to increase with age. These findings suggest that infant sustained attention is accompanied by distinct patterns of brain functional connectivity. The current findings also suggest the rapid development of functional connectivity in brain networks during infancy.     

Rethinking attentional development: reflexive and volitional orienting in children and adults

It is thought that a child takes the first 8 years of life to develop an adult‐like volitional attention system. The data that support this belief, however, are based on studies that inadvertently measured a combination of volitional and reflexive attention, rather than volitional attention alone. What is immature then in children that are younger than 8 years of age? The volitional attention system or the manner that volitional and reflexive attention systems combine? We investigated this issue, with preschool and adult populations, by first isolating and then combining volitional and reflexive attention systems. Our results indicate that both volitional attention, and the way it combines with reflexive orienting, are immature in preschool children. We suggest that when volitional attention becomes adult‐like its combination with reflexive attention will also become mature.     

A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between maternal mind‐mindedness and theory of mind

Data are presented from a longitudinal investigation examining the relationship between maternal mind‐mindedness (MM) in infancy and socio‐cognitive development in childhood. We revisited children (n = 18) who had taken part in a longitudinal study as infants. MM had been assessed at 10, 12, 16, and 20 months of age. We followed up these children at 5–6 years of age to test their higher order theory of mind (ToM) (using the strange stories task). The convergent validity, temporal stability, and predictive validity of the construct of MM were examined in a longitudinal data set. The five measures of MM were not significantly correlated. Mother's production of appropriate mind‐related comments (but no other measures) showed evidence of temporal stability throughout infancy. Thus, MM (as measured by appropriate mind‐related comments) was confirmed as a stable construct. Children's ToM at 5–6 years of age was significantly predicted by their mother's MM up to 4 years earlier, with MM accounting for 40% of the variance of the strange stories task scores. These findings identify a relationship between MM across a protracted period of infancy and socio‐cognitive development at 5–6 years of age.     

Here's looking at you,kid: attention to infant emotional faces in mothers and non‐mothers

Infant facial cues play a critical role in eliciting care and nurturance from an adult caregiver. Using an attentional capture paradigm we investigated attentional processing of adult and infant emotional facial expressions in a sample of mothers (n = 29) and non‐mothers (n = 37) to determine whether infant faces were associated with greater task interference. Responses to infant target stimuli were slower than adult target stimuli in both groups. This effect was modulated by parental status, such that mothers compared to non‐mothers showed longer response times to infant compared to adult faces. Both groups also responded more slowly to emotional faces, an effect that was more marked for infant emotional faces. Finally, it was found that greater levels of mothers' self‐reported parental distress was associated with less task interference when processing infant faces. These findings indicate that for adult women, infant faces in general and emotional infant faces in particular, preferentially engage attention compared to adult faces. However, for mothers, infant faces appear to be more salient in general. Therefore, infant faces may constitute a special class of social stimuli. We suggest that alterations in attentional processing in motherhood may constitute an adaptive behavioural change associated with becoming a parent.     

Identifying the interaction of maternal sensitivity and two serotonin-related gene polymorphisms on infant self-regulation

During infancy, orienting and gaze aversion serve as major self-regulatory mechanisms and play an important role in the development of deliberate self-regulation and control. The present study examined the interaction of intrinsic factors (MAOA-uVNTR and 5-HTTLPR gene polymorphisms) and extrinsic factors (maternal sensitivity) on early infant self-regulatory behavior. We assessed 5-HTTLPR (ss + sl versus ll) and MAOA-uVNTR (3 and 4 among boys, and 3/3, 3/4, and 4/4 among girls) polymorphisms, determined maternal sensitivity during mother–child free play, and coded infant self-regulatory behavior (i.e., orienting shifts in a temperament test) in 281 six-month-old infants. We found that infants who experienced a lower level of maternal sensitivity and had the short allele of 5-HTTLPR variants and the 3/3 MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism displayed lower self-regulation capacity than did those infants with a higher level of maternal sensitivity. This finding suggested a modulatory role of maternal sensitivity. Moreover, these findings are consistent with the genetic vulnerability hypothesis, which states that beneficial environmental factors serve as a buffer against harmful genetic predispositions during child development.     

Association of prenatal attachment and early childhood emotional,behavioral, and developmental characteristics: A longitudinal study

This study examines the associations between prenatal attachment and child development, socioemotional behavioral problems, and competence at early childhood. It also inquires whether maternal depression and anxiety at the prenatal period and at early childhood are associated with child outcomes. The study consisted of 83 mothers and their children. Data regarding the prenatal attachment, depression, and anxiety were collected during Weeks 28 to 40 of gestation. When the children were 21 to 31 months old, the Brief Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) and the Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory (ADSI) were applied to children along with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) administered to mothers. Results showed that prenatal attachment scores significantly correlated with BITSEA-Competency subscale scores and ADSI total scores at early childhood, r(83) = 0.246, P = .025, and r(82) = 0.316, P = .004, respectively. Prenatal attachment levels were found to be the predictors of both behavioral and emotional competence and development at early childhood, b = 0.081, t(83) = 2.273, P = .014, and b = 0.281, t(83) = 3.225, P = .002, respectively. In addition, prenatal attachment was shown to be even a stronger predictor of development than was worsening maternal depression at early childhood, b = −0.319, t(83) = 2.140, P = .035. Our results indicate that fostering prenatal attachment may be beneficial for better infant outcomes at early childhood.     

Investigating the social environment of the A‐not‐B search task

Controversy exists concerning the origins of object permanence, with different measures suggesting different conclusions. Looking measures have been interpreted as evidence for early understanding (Baillargeon, 1987, Developmental Psychology, 23 :655), while Piaget (The construction of reality in the child, 1954) interpreted perseverative reaching behaviour on his AB search task to be indicative of limited understanding. However, looking measures are often reported to be an unreliable index of infant expectation (Haith, 1998, Infant Behaviour and Development, 21 :167) and reaching behaviour has been explained by many alternative processes (e.g. Smith et al., 1999, Psychological Review, 106 :235; Topál et al., 2008, Science, 321 :1831). We aimed to investigate whether social looking (Dunn & Bremner, 2017, Developmental Science, 20 :e12452; Walden et al., 2007, Developmental Science, 10 :654) can be used as a valid measure of infant expectation of object location during the Piagetian AB search task. Furthermore, we aimed to test the social accounts of perseverative reaching by investigating how the direction of experimenter gaze would affect infant search and social behaviour. Infant search and social behaviour was compared on B trials across three different conditions, namely experimenter gaze to midline, location A and location B. Search performance significantly improved when the experimenter looked to location B. Infant social looking indicated that infants expect the object to be found in the location in which they search and are actively seeking information about object location from the experimenter. We conclude that social looking is a valid index of infant expectation that has provided support for the importance of the social environment on the AB search task. This casts doubt on the potential for this task to provide information related to the development of object permanence in infancy.     

Mothers' attachment representations and choice of infant care: center care vs. home

In the debate concerning the effects of day care on infant development, insufficient attention has been paid to the potential relationship between pre‐existing emotional differences among mothers and the type of care they choose for their infants. To shed light on this issue, this study examines the attachment representations of mothers who choose day‐care centres as opposed to mothers who choose to remain at home with their infants. Participants were 76 primiparous mothers. Mothers' attachment classifications were assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview [AAI; Main M, Kaplan N, Cassidy J. 1985. Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: a move to the level of representation. In Growing Points of Attachment Theory and Research. Monograph of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, (1–2, serial no. 209), Bretherton I, Waters E (eds); 66–104]. Results indicate that more Day‐care than Home‐Care mothers are classified as insecurely attached. These results highlight the contribution of maternal emotional characteristics to the effects of diverse child care arrangements on infant development. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Longitudinal associations between low morning cortisol in infancy and anger dysregulation in early childhood in a CPS‐referred sample

Children who experience early adversity are at increased risk for developing psychopathology, and dysfunction of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis is a possible mechanism conferring this risk. This study sought to characterize the association between morning cortisol during different developmental periods and deficits in children's emotion regulation, a core feature of many psychological disorders. Morning cortisol was collected at two time points (i.e., during infancy, M = 13.0 months old, and during early childhood, M = 36.8 months old) from 120 children with histories of child protective services (CPS) involvement. Children completed a lab visit during early childhood (M = 38.6 months old) that involved an observational measure of anger regulation. Results showed that low morning cortisol during infancy, but not early childhood, predicted increased anger dysregulation during early childhood. These results highlight the importance of developmental timing in assessing the effects of HPA axis functioning and suggest that low cortisol during infancy is a risk factor for later emotion regulation difficulties.     

Gender and age differences in parent–child emotion talk

This study examined gender differences in emotion word use during mother–child and father–child conversations. Sixty‐five Spanish mothers and fathers and their 4‐ (M = 53.50, SD = 3.54) and 6‐year‐old (M = 77.07, SD = 3.94) children participated in this study. Emotion talk was examined during a play‐related storytelling task and a reminiscence task (conversation about past experiences). Mothers mentioned a higher proportion of emotion words than did fathers. During the play‐related storytelling task, mothers of 4‐year‐old daughters mentioned a higher proportion of emotion words than did mothers of 4‐year‐old sons, whereas fathers of 4‐year‐old daughters directed a higher proportion of emotion words than did fathers of 4‐year‐old sons during the reminiscence task. No gender differences were found with parents of 6‐year‐old children. During the reminiscence task daughters mentioned more emotion words with their fathers than with their mothers. Finally, mothers' use of emotion talk was related to whether children used emotion talk in both tasks. Fathers' use of emotion talk was only related to children's emotion talk during the reminiscence task.     

Development of infant sustained attention and its relation to EEG oscillations: an EEG and cortical source analysis study

The current study examined the relation between infant sustained attention and infant EEG oscillations. Fifty‐nine infants were tested at 6 (N = 15), 8 (N = 17), 10 (N = 14), and 12 (N = 13) months. Three attention phases, stimulus orienting, sustained attention, and attention termination, were defined based on infants' heart rate changes. Frequency analysis using simultaneously recorded EEG focused on infant theta (2–6 Hz), alpha (6–9 Hz), and beta (9–14 Hz) rhythms. Cortical source analysis of EEG oscillations was conducted with realistic infant MRI models. Theta synchronization was found over fontal pole, temporal, and parietal electrodes during infant sustained attention for 10 and 12 months. Alpha desynchronization was found over frontal, central and parietal electrodes during sustained attention. This alpha effect started to emerge at 10 months and became well established by 12 months. No difference was found for the beta rhythm between different attention phases. The theta synchronization effect was localized to the orbital frontal, temporal pole, and ventral temporal areas. The alpha desynchronization effect was localized to the brain regions composing the default mode network including the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex, and inferior parietal gyrus. The alpha desynchronization effect was also localized to the pre‐ and post‐central gyri. The present study demonstrates a connection between infant sustained attention and EEG oscillatory activities.     

Continuity of father-rated temperament from infancy to middle childhood

Continuity of father-rated temperament in Finnish children (n = 115) aged from 6 months (the IBQ) to 5.5 years (the CBQ) was explored within the theoretical framework developed by Rothbart. Father-rated activity level, smiling and laughter and distress to limitations showed significant differential homotypic and heterotypic continuity, while soothability, duration of orienting and fear showed significant differential heterotypic continuity. On the level of latent superconstructs, father-rated positive and negative infant affectivity accounted for 5.1, 22.7 and 10.0% of the variance in childhood extraversion, effortful control and negative affectivity, respectively. Inter-parental comparisons (n = 109 family units) revealed that father-rated continuity was similar to mother-rated continuity. These findings give empirical credence to Rothbart's theory and to father-rated temperamental continuity from infancy onwards.     

Parenting,corpus callosum,and executive function in preschool children

In this longitudinal population-based study (N?=?544), we investigated whether early parenting and corpus callosum length predict child executive function abilities at 4 years of age. The length of the corpus callosum in infancy was measured using postnatal cranial ultrasounds at 6 weeks of age. At 3 years, two aspects of parenting were observed: maternal sensitivity during a teaching task and maternal discipline style during a discipline task. Parents rated executive function problems at 4 years of age in five domains of inhibition, shifting, emotional control, working memory, and planning/organizing, using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version. Maternal sensitivity predicted less executive function problems at preschool age. A significant interaction was found between corpus callosum length in infancy and maternal use of positive discipline to determine child inhibition problems: The association between a relatively shorter corpus callosum in infancy and child inhibition problems was reduced in children who experienced more positive discipline. Our results point to the buffering potential of positive parenting for children with biological vulnerability.