Infant–mother and infant–father synchrony: The coregulation of positive arousal

To examine the coregulation of positive affect during mother–infant and father–infant interactions, 100 couples and their first‐born child were videotaped in face‐to‐face interactions. Parents' and infant's affective states were coded in one‐second frames, and synchrony was measured with time‐series analysis. The orientation, intensity, and temporal pattern of infant positive arousal were assessed. Synchrony between same‐gender parent–infant dyads was more optimal in terms of stronger lagged associations between parent and infant affect, more frequent mutual synchrony, and shorter lags to responsiveness. Infants' arousal during mother–infant interaction cycled between medium and low levels, and high positive affect appeared gradually and was embedded within a social episode. During father–child play, positive arousal was high, sudden, and organized in multiple peaks that appeared more frequently as play progressed. Mother–infant synchrony was linked to the partners' social orientation and was inversely related to maternal depression and infant negative emotionality. Father–child synchrony was related to the intensity of positive arousal and to father attachment security. Results contribute to research on the regulation of positive emotions and describe the unique modes of affective sharing that infants coconstruct with mother and father. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Perceived mother‐infant relationship difficulties in postnatal depression

Postnatal depression has been associated with mother–infant relationship difficulties, but there has been less research in clinical populations. This study aims to identify characteristics of reported mother–infant relationship difficulties in mothers with postnatal depression who had been referred to a tertiary Mother and Baby Service. Forty‐one mothers with postnatal depression completed self‐report and interview measures with regards to their mental state, social adversity, and perceptions on their relationship with their infants. Almost one‐third of mothers (31.7%) reported severe difficulties, including rejection of the infant and maternal pathological anger. A low birth weight and maternal dissatisfaction towards their social role were found to be significantly related to perceived mother–infant interaction difficulties. Self‐reports correlated satisfactorily with interview schedules. A significant proportion of mothers reported difficulties in relating to their infants which can be reliably identified by means of the self‐report measures used. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maternal depression and dyadic interaction: the role of maternal attachment style

Maternal mental health and the contents of her representational world are important determinants of early parent–child relationship. We examined, first, the role of prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms and maternal attachment style in predicting the quality of mother–child interaction. Second, we analysed whether the secure‐autonomous attachment style can protect the dyadic interaction from the negative effects of maternal depression. The participants were 59 mother–infant pairs examined during pregnancy (T1), 4–5 months postpartum (T2) and when the children were approximately 14 months old (T3). Maternal attachment style was assessed with a modified Adult Attachment Interview ‐procedure, depressive symptoms with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and observed mother–child interaction with Care Index. The results show that autonomous mothers were more sensitive and responsive and their children more co‐operative than dyads with dismissing maternal attachment style. As hypothesized, mothers with the combination of both prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms were highly unresponsive in their dyadic interaction. Further, prenatal depressive symptoms had a stronger impact on maternal unresponsiveness than postnatal symptoms. As hypothesized, mother's autonomous attachment style protected the mother–child interaction from the negative impact of maternal postnatal depressive symptoms, whereas dyads with preoccupied mothers were especially at risk for interaction problems when mothers had postpartum depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of prematurity,maternal anxiety,and infants' neurobiological risk on mother–infant interactions

In this study, we investigated how the birth of a very low birth weight preterm (VLBW) infant influences the mother–infant interaction at 3 months. We also focused on the impact of the infant's neurobiological risk and maternal anxiety, and their interaction. The comparison of the VLBW preterm sample (n = 79) with an external full‐term sample (n = 35) showed mother–infant interactions of the families with the preterm infant to be more vocally responsive during the interaction, but less facially responsive during the interaction. Additionally, higher levels of maternal anxiety were associated with preterm infants being less facially responsive in interaction with their mother. While neurobiological risk of the infant played a part in this association, with higher risk infants also being less facially responsive, the relationship with maternal anxiety and the mother–child interaction was stronger. How these findings may influence therapeutic interventions is discussed.     

Can We Identify Emotion Over‐regulation in Infancy? Associations with Avoidant Attachment,Dyadic Emotional Interaction and Temperament

Emotion over‐regulation in infancy has seldom been the focus of empirical research. This study analysed the specificities of over‐regulation when compared with under‐regulation (maladaptive) and adaptive regulation by testing its association with attachment, dyadic emotional interaction, and temperament. The sample consisted of 52 low‐risk mother–infant dyads. During a home visit, dyadic emotional interaction was assessed in the daily routines and free play of 10‐month‐old infants. The infant's emotion regulation was assessed using the Shape Sorter Task, and a temperament questionnaire was completed by the mother. Attachment was assessed at 12 or 16 months using the Strange Situation. As hypothesized, (i) emotion over‐regulation (versus adaptive regulation) was predicted by a lower quality of dyadic emotional interaction and marginally by avoidant attachment; (ii) over‐regulation (versus under‐regulation) was predicted by avoidant attachment; and (iii) the predictive role of avoidant attachment was substantiated after controlling for another measure of mother–infant interaction. Contrary to expectations, temperament did not distinguish between emotion regulation styles. The link between over‐regulation and lower quality of mother–infant emotional interaction and avoidant attachment was demonstrated. There is empirical support to the claim that it is possible to identify emotion over‐regulation in infancy and that it is a maladaptive style of emotion regulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A community mental health clinic's infant-toddler services

A community mental health clinic study of 20 infants for psychological risk status combined with a group of mother (200) and infant-toddler visits (450) over 1-year period is described as a program for providing services to the 0 to 3 age group. Recent studies in the development of human competence emphasize the importance of these years in obtaining various social and nonsocial abilities that are crucial to life and/or work satisfaction. The community mental health clinic has the knowledge, expertise, and mandate to provide services to this age group.     

Maternal speech style with prelinguistic twin infants

The mother–infant communicative speech of a group of mothers of 4‐month‐old first‐born twin infants was compared to the speech of a group of mothers of first‐born singleton infants. Maternal groups were matched on age, education level, mother–infant attachment status and infant gender, and maternal depression was assessed as a control variable. Maternal speech was coded for focus, content, complexity and syntax of mothers' utterances. The findings of earlier studies with toddler age twins, that maternal speech style was more directive and less infant‐focused, were replicated in this prelinguistic period of infancy. Compared to mothers of singletons, mothers of twins used less infant‐focused speech, were less responsive to their infants' cues, and attributed less agency to their infants. Mothers of twins also used fewer questions and requests but did not differ from mothers of singletons in their use of negatives and imperatives. These early differences in the language learning environments of twin and singleton infants may be due to the reduced opportunities that mothers of twins have to establish dyadic communicative routines with their infants and to familiarize themselves with their infants as interactive partners, and may have implications for the early language development of twins. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disorders of excessive crying,feeding, and sleeping: The Munich Interdisciplinary Research and Intervention Program

The Munich Interdisciplinary Research and Intervention Program (MIRIP 1991) is an inter-disciplinary diagnostic and intervention service for families with regulatory disturbed infants (excessive crying, feeding/sleeping disturbances, disturbances of attachment/exploration, disturbances of autonomy/control). In addition, the systematic collection of data serve to investigate the etiology, clinical course, and possible treatments of regulatory problems in infancy. The program is based on a systemic model of early developmental psychopathology. Diagnostic procedures include a semistructured clinical interview, a developmental neuropediatric examination; behavioral diaries; questionnaires on infant temperament, the mother's psychological condition, marital satisfaction, and social support; and videotaped mother–infant interactions in age-related contexts. As is evident from the data analysis, regulatory disturbances in infancy may be associated with (1) maladaptive regulatory patterns in several domains (e.g., excessive crying and disturbed sleep-wake organization), (2) high maternal distress and multiple psychosocial risk factors, and (3) considerable distress of the early mother/parent–infant relationship and communication. Interaction-centered infant–parent psychotherapy is an interdisciplinary, multidimensional therapeutic approach for families with regulatory disturbed infants. It targets upon dysfunctional patterns of mother/parent–infant communication. Particular emphasis is put on restoring the parents' intuitive capacities. The approach has proved to be effective within short time periods and aims at preventing later developmental problems. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL MATERNAL REPRESENTATIONS IN NONRISK AND AT‐RISK PARENTING: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCES ON MOTHER–INFANT FEEDING INTERACTIONS

The aim of this study was to investigate the mother–infant relationship in depressive, psychosocial, and cumulative‐risk parenting by assessing prenatal and postnatal maternal representations and mother–infant interactions during feeding at 4 months of age. The sample consisted of 167 mother–infant pairs: 41 nonrisk women, 40 depressive‐risk women, 40 psychosocial‐risk women, and 46 cumulative‐risk women. During pregnancy, the women were interviewed about psychosocial‐risk variables. Maternal representations and depressive symptoms were evaluated during pregnancy and again when the infants were 3 and 4 months old, respectively. All mother–infant pairs were observed in 20‐min video recordings during breast‐feeding. Maternal Integrated/balanced representations were more frequent in the nonrisk group whereas the maternal Nonintegrated/ambivalent category was more represented in the cumulative‐risk group during pregnancy and after the infant's birth. At 4 months, the cumulative‐risk group of mothers and infants showed a lack of reciprocity, conflictual communicative exchanges, and higher food refusal behavior. Moreover, at 4 months, differences between the quality of mother–infant feeding interactions and the quality of prenatal and postnatal maternal representations emerged, showing less adequate maternal scaffolding in the Nonintegrated/ambivalent and Restricted/disengaged women. This study has rich implications for intervention to support the affective and communicative caregiving system and to prevent infant feeding problems and mother–infant relational disturbances in childhood.     

Maternal experience of their infants’ crying in the context of war trauma: Determinants and consequences

We examined, first, how prenatal maternal mental health and war trauma predicted mothers’ experience of their infant crying, indicated by emotions, cognitions, and behavior; and second, how these experiences influenced the mother–infant interaction and infant development. Participants were 511 Palestinian mothers from the Gaza Strip, reporting their war trauma, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and perceived stress during pregnancy (Time 1). They reported experiences of infant crying at 4 months (Time 2), and the mother–infant interaction and infant sensorimotor and language development at 12 months of infants’ age (Time 3). Results revealed that maternal mental health problems, but not war trauma, were important to experiences of infant crying. A high level of PTSD symptoms predicted negative emotions evoked by infant crying, and high depressive symptoms predicted low active and positive responses to crying. Unexpectedly, high prenatal perceived stress predicted high active and positive responsiveness. Concerning the consequences, mothers’ sensitive interpretation of infant crying predicted optimal infant sensorimotor development, and mothers’ active and positive responses predicted high emotional availability in mother–infant interaction. Crying is the first communication tool for infants, and mothers’ sensitive responses to crying contribute to infant well-being. Therefore, reinforcing mother's optimal responses is important when helping war-affected dyads.     

Association between Hyperemesis Gravidarum in pregnancy on postnatal ability of infants to attend to a play task with their mother

Research indicates a higher prevalence of attention deficits in children exposed to HG in utero compared to controls with some claiming that the deficit is due to prenatal effects of malnutrition in HG mothers and others that it is due to maternal mental health after birth. The current study examines the effect of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) diagnosis during pregnancy on infant attention controlling for maternal stress, depression anxiety and attachment. Thirty-eight infants mean age 4 months were videotaped with their mothers (19 mothers with a hyperemesis diagnosis and 19 controls) during play with a soft toy and looking at a picture book. Infant attention was operationalized as gaze direction towards the play activity, mother, and ‘distracted’ (indicated by looking away from play or mother). Mothers completed stress, depression, anxiety, and attachment questionnaires. HG exposed infants attended for significantly less time during play with a book or soft toy compared to controls. Maternal stress, depression, anxiety, and attachment did not differ in HG mothers and controls. Infant ability to attend to the toy, book, mother or being distracted did not relate to maternal postnatal attachment, or mental health. These results suggest that the prenatal environment, especially exposure to HG might be associated with reduced infant attention abilities independent of maternal postnatal health.     

Attachment in low‐SES rural Appalachian infants: Contextual,infant, and maternal interaction risk and protective factors

Attachment classifications were obtained for 95 low‐socioeconomic‐status (SES) rural Appalachian infants in the Strange Situation procedure at 15 months. The distribution of secure (B) and insecure (A, C, D) infants was similar to other low‐SES samples and significantly different from low‐risk samples. Levels of contextual and infant risk, together with maternal responsiveness to crying and pattern of sensitivity from 4 to 9 months, predicted attachment security. High social support, when examined as a protective factor, related to reduced contextual risk, but not to increased likelihood of security. Exploratory discriminant function analyses showed that infants in secure relationships differed in positive directions on contextual and maternal interactional factors. Insecure‐organized (A and C) infants experienced contextual and maternal interaction risks, while insecure‐disorganized (D) infants were best distinguished by infant characteristics, including greater likelihood of being male and low use of mother as a secure base at 9 months. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Longitudinal Assessment of Sleep–Wake Regulation and Attachment Security with Parents

The development of sleep–wake regulation occurs within the context of the infant–parent relationship. The present study investigated (1) patterns of change in night waking across infancy and attachment to parents and (2) if dependency, a characteristic of secure subgroup B4 and insecure‐resistant infants, accounted for differences in night waking. Forty‐six families reported on the number of infant night wakings at 7, 12, and 14 months of age. Attachment was measured at 12 (infant–mother) and 14 (infant–father) months. Findings suggest that infants with a secure (including the dependent‐secure, B4) pattern of attachment with mothers decreased in the number of night wakings over time, whereas infants with an insecure‐resistant pattern of attachment with mothers continued to wake at night into the second year. Attachment dependency did not account for differences in night waking. These findings are important to understanding the mechanism(s) underlying the relation between attachment and sleep–wake regulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expression of negative affect during face‐to‐face interaction: a double video study of young infants' sensitivity to social contingency

The purpose was to assess infants' sensitivity to social contingency, taking affective state into account, during face‐to‐face interaction with the mother in a double video set‐up. Infants' behaviour during three sequences of live face‐to‐face interaction were compared to two sequences where the interaction between the infant and the mother was set out of phase, by presenting either the infant or the mother with a replay of their partners' behaviour during earlier live interaction. We found a significant negative correlation between the infant's degree of negative affect and the average time of looking at the mother during the live sequences. A median split was calculated to separate the infants into a high‐negative‐affect group and a low‐negative‐affect group on the basis of their emotional responses during the experiment. The low‐negative‐affect infants looked significantly more at their mothers than other foci during the live but not the replay sequences, while the high‐negative‐affect infants did not show this difference. The results suggest that 2–4‐month old infants are able to distinguish between experimental distortion of contingent aspects in live and replay sequences, but that this effect of the replay condition may not be shown by moderate to highly distressed infants. Our findings underline the importance of taking infants' emotional state into account in experiments intended to assess their capacity for intersubjective communication. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infant touching behaviour during mother–infant face‐to‐face interactions

The study of infant communication during mother–infant interactions has largely focused on infants' distal behaviours, while neglecting their more proximal behaviours, such as touch. Yet, touch is an important modality through which infants and mothers communicate; it is also a vital means through which infants self‐regulate and explore their surroundings. The present study was designed to investigate the touching behaviours of 44, 51/2‐month‐old, healthy, full‐term infants during face‐to‐face mother–infant interactions. A still‐face (SF) procedure was used in order to examine differences in the types and locations of infant touch across normal and perturbed interaction periods, when mothers exhibit changes in their emotional availability. Results revealed that infant touch varied with changes in maternal availability. During the SF period, when mothers were unavailable, infants used more active, soothing, and reactive tactile behaviours (stroke, finger, pat, and pull), and they spent more time touching themselves. In contrast, infants used mostly passive touch (static) during the Normal periods, when their mothers were available. They also spent a significant portion of time touching their mothers. The variations in infant touch across periods suggest that infants communicate their affective states through touch. The findings also support the regulatory and exploratory roles of infant touch, especially during periods of maternal unavailability. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychotherapy groups and individual support to enhance mental health and early dyadic interaction among drug‐abusing mothers

The purpose of this controlled study was to examine the outcome of psychodynamic mother–infant group psychotherapy (PGT) outpatient intervention for drug‐abusing perinatal mother–infant dyads. PGT comprised 20 to 24 weekly 3‐hr sessions with 3 to 5 months of follow‐up. A comparison intervention group was formed of mothers participating in individually tailored psychosocial support (PSS) lasting, on average, 12 months and providing mother–infant support and practical counseling. We hypothesized that positive changes would occur in maternal drug abuse, mental health, and mother–infant interaction, especially in the PGT group due to its more intensive therapeutic focus. Participants were 26 drug‐abusing dyads in PGT, 25 in PSS, and 50 dyads in a non‐drug‐abusing comparison group. Assessments were pre‐intervention and at 4 and 12 months' follow‐up, including maternal depressive symptoms and mother–child interaction assessed by the Emotional Availability Scales (EA). As hypothesized, in dyadic interaction maternal hostility decreased significantly in the PGT group, and intrusiveness decreased in both intervention groups, but especially in the PTG group. However, both interventions showed a general improvement in the quality of mother–infant interaction. They also succeeded in sustaining high maternal abstinence, treatment retention, and alleviating depressive symptoms. The findings are discussed in relation to preventing negative transgenerational interaction patterns in the high‐risk dyads.     

Attachment in preterm infants and their mothers: Neonatal risk status and maternal representations

High‐risk neonatal status, indexed by an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), and maternal representations of past and present attachment relationships were examined as predictors of infant attachment in a sample of preterm infants. Participants included 50 19‐month‐old infants and their middle‐class, predominantly African American mothers. A maternal‐report questionnaire and a structured interview were used to assess past relationship history with mother and current relationship with infant, respectively. The Strange Situation Paradigm was used to assess attachment security. Multiple logistic regression analyses suggested that maternal representation of the infant—but not ICH or maternal childhood history—significantly predicted infant attachment security. ICH and maternal history of childhood rejection were predictive of disorganized infant attachment. The findings are consistent with previous data that suggest that maternal factors are more important than infant factors in determining infant attachment security. These data also suggest that neurological deficits may contribute to disorganized infant attachment. © 2000 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Sleep and Attachment in Preterm Infants

Infants born preterm are at elevated risk for socioemotional difficulties; however, factors contributing to this risk are largely understudied. Within the present study, we explored infant sleep as a biosocial factor that may play a role in infant socioemotional development. Within a prospective longitudinal design, we examined parent‐reported sleep patterns and observed parenting quality as predictors of infant–mother attachment in 171 infants born preterm. Using structural equation modeling, we examined main effect and moderator models linking infant sleep patterns and parenting with attachment security. Sleep patterns characterized by more daytime sleep and positive/responsive parenting predicted infant attachment security. Parent‐reported nighttime sleep patterns were unrelated to attachment in this sample of infants born preterm. These results indicate that daytime sleep and parenting quality may be important for emerging attachment relationships in infants born preterm.     

Maternal perinatal representations and their associations with mother–infant interaction and attachment: A longitudinal comparison of Portuguese and Brazilian dyads

Prior research in Western countries (mostly the US, Canada and northern Europe) indicates that mothers' representations are associated with mother–infant interaction quality and their child's attachment security later in the first year. Fewer studies, however, have evaluated whether these associations hold for mother–infant dyads in other countries, such as Brazil and Portugal. Although these countries share a similar language and culture, they differ on societal dimensions that may affect parenting attitudes and mother–infant relationships, such as economic stress, social organisation, social policy, and the availability of services for young families. In this longitudinal study, we followed two independent samples of Brazilian and Portuguese mother–infant dyads from the perinatal period to 12 months post-partum. We assessed mothers' perinatal representations using semi-structured interviews in the first 48 hours after the infant's birth, and evaluated the associations of these representations with mother interaction quality at 9 months and infant attachment at 12 months. Results were similar in each country, corroborating prior research in single Western countries: Mothers with more positive perinatal representations were more sensitive to their infants during free play at 9 months and were more likely to have infants classified as securely attached at 12 months.