Mutual touch during mother–infant face-to-face still-face interactions: Influences of interaction period and infant birth status

Contact behaviours such as touch, have been shown to be influential channels of nonverbal communication between mothers and infants. While existing research has examined the communicative roles of maternal or infant touch in isolation, mutual touch, whereby touching behaviours occur simultaneously between mothers and their infants, has yet to be examined. The present study was designed to investigate mutual touch during face-to-face interactions between mothers and their 5½-month-old fullterm (n = 40), very low birth weight/preterm (VLBW/preterm; n = 40) infants, and infants at psychosocial risk (n = 41). Objectives were to examine: (1) how the quantitative and qualitative aspects of touch employed by mothers and their infants varied across the normal periods of the still-face (SF) procedure, and (2) how these were associated with risk status. Mutual touch was systematically coded using the mother–infant touch scale. Interactions were found to largely consist of mutual touch and one-sided touch plus movement, highlighting that active touching is pervasive during mother–infant interactions. Consistent with the literature, while the SF period did not negatively affect the amount of mutual touch engaged in for mothers and their fullterm infants and mothers and their infants at psychosocial risk, it did for mothers and their VLBW/preterm infants. Together, results illuminate how both mothers and infants participate in shaping and co-regulating their interactions through the use of touch and underscore the contribution of examining the influence of birth status on mutual touch.     

In conversation with Joseph B. Wheelwright

This article reviews some aspects of successful aging and personality development in later life, discusses some ways of maximizing one's potential at that time, and explains why the social stereotypes of aging are no longer relevant. Psychological and spiritual growth, learning, and creativity are independent of age and often continue until very old age, so that it is a mistake to think of aging as a period of relentless decline. Old age has its own developmental tasks. One can therefore grow into old age and not simply sink into it. Jungian psychology can make an important contribution to understanding the importance of this time of life for both the individual and society.     

Verbal and nonverbal communication in at-risk mother-child dyads: Implications for relationship quality and developing positive social behaviours in middle-childhood

Factors that promote healthy relationships have been understudied. The objective of this study is to examine mother–child verbal and nonverbal communication (separately), relationship quality and children's positive social behaviours in an at-risk sample framed within the developmental psychopathology approach. Mothers are part of a 35-year longitudinal prospective study who, as children, were rated by peers on measures of aggression and social withdrawal. These mothers, with their own 9- to 13-year-old children, participated in conflict and game-playing tasks. Verbal and nonverbal communication were coded separately using systematic observational measures. Maternal childhood histories of aggression and withdrawal predicted poorer dyad verbal communication, relationship quality and children's positive social behaviours. Frequently displayed positive verbal and nonverbal communication were associated with better relationship quality and children's positive social behaviours. The results highlight the unique contributions of verbal and nonverbal communication to adaptive development and to promoting healthy relationships in at-risk families during middle-childhood.     

The behaviour style observation system for young children predicts teacher‐reported externalizing behaviour in middle childhood

The Behaviour Style Observation System for Young Children (BSOS) was used to predict preschool‐aged children's externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems in middle childhood, 3–5 years after the initial assessment. This observational measurement tool was designed to sample and assess young children's disruptive, non‐compliant, and unresponsive behaviour, during a brief (11 min) observation in the child's home. In the current study, the BSOS was used to predict parent and teacher ratings of child behaviour problems after school entry in a longitudinal sample (N=81) of at‐risk children at time 2. The BSOS predicted teacher‐reported externalizing problems at time 2. In contrast, parent reports of behaviour problems, although correlated with repeated parent reports at time 2, were not significantly predictive of teacher‐reported behaviour problems at school age. The BSOS was not associated with either parent or teacher reports of internalizing problems. These findings emphasize the importance and utility of using observational measures when examining the continuity of behaviour problems in young children over time. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intergenerational predictors of diurnal cortisol secretion in early childhood

The present study examined potential intergenerational links that may contribute to atypical patterns of diurnal cortisol secretion in early childhood. Salivary cortisol samples were collected across 1 waking day in 36 pre‐school children whose mothers are participants in an ongoing longitudinal project. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) identified statistically significant predictors of individual differences in daily cortisol trajectories. Children displayed relatively low post‐awakening values and flatter cortisol trajectories across the day as a function of unsupportive maternal behaviour, second‐hand smoke and maternal histories of social withdrawal in childhood. These results suggest that individual differences in young children's pattern of diurnal cortisol are associated with a variety of current and historical maternal characteristics and behaviours. The identification of intergenerational predictors of children's diurnal neuroendocrine functioning may provide new insights into the transfer of health and developmental risk from parent to child. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychological androgyny and personality adjustment in college and psychiatric populations

In two separate studies, 106 female and 84 male undergraduates and 48 female and 48 male psychiatric inpatients were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Faschingbauer Abbreviated Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated groups identified from the BSRI differed on a variety of personality scales in both normal and clinical populations. Androgynous females were significantly lower on the Depression (D) and Social Introversion (Si) scales than feminine females, and, in the college sample, were also lower on the Schizophrenia and Mania scales than masculine females. In the hospitalized male sample, this pattern was partially sustained, with androgynous and masculine subjects being significantly less deviant than feminine on the Si scale, and tending to score lower on the D scale. In the group of college males, androgynous males scored lower on the Si scale than feminine males. Hypotheses concerning the relationship of sex-role flexibility (androgyny) to mental health appear to be supported for females in both college and psychiatric populations by these results. These results also indicate that sex-role conformity may relate differently to personality development and psychological functioning for males and females.     

Environmental control of independent and dependent behaviors in preschool girls and boys: A model for early independence training

Differential adult response to the dependent behaviors of young girls and boys has been widely reported in the literature. The present study was an experimental investigation of the role of adult response patterns in shaping and maintaining independent behavior in preschoolers. A two-group design using random assignment was used to examine environmental control of independent and dependent behaviors, defined as task persistence and exploration, and proximity-seeking and socialization of attention, respectively. Subjects were 20 3- and 4-year-olds, 11 females and 9 males. Results indicated that independent and dependent behaviors are both strongly under the control of environmental contingencies in both boys and girls. Implications of these results for the theoretical understanding of sex-role development and women's mental health problems are discussed.     

Effects of peer presence on sex-typing of children's play behavior

Effect of peer presence on the sex-typed toy choices of 3- and 4-year-olds was investigated in a repeated measures experimental design. Twenty-six girls and thirty-six boys were tested under three conditions: (a) alone; (b) in the presence of a same-sex peer; and (c) in the presence of an opposite-sex peer. Amount of time spent playing with three feminine- and three masculine-stereotyped toys was recorded. For both boys and girls, play with “sex role-inappropriate” toys was significantly lower in the presence of an opposite-sex peer than in the solitary condition. Across conditions boys exhibited less play with opposite-sex-typed toys than girls. Rate of play with opposite-sex-typed toys increased in successive trials for both sexes. These results indicate that the presence of an opposite-sex peer functions as a discriminative stimulus for avoidance of “sex role-inappropriate” play in preschoolers and suggests that preschoolers may have a history of differential reinforcement for sex-typed play in the presence of peers.