Maternal conceptions of the parenting role and mother–child collaborative behaviours in at-risk context

This study investigated to what extent mothers' conceptions of the parenting role drive mother–child collaborative behaviour as well as expert ratings on maternal practices. It also investigated whether there is any direct link between mother and child behaviours and expert ratings. Self-report measures for maternal conceptions and observed mother–child behaviours in the shopping task were obtained from a sample of 75 at-risk mothers with a child 8 to 12 years old. Social workers reported on mothers' negligent, coercive and resilient practices. Structural equation models showed that high power conception had a negative influence on mother and child's collaborative efforts, whereas reciprocity and parental support conceptions had a positive influence. Reciprocity, low power and parental support schemas consistently predicted experts' view on maternal practices. However, only mother's passivity predicted negatively expert ratings on resilient practice, indicating that expert views were mostly derived from mothers' reflections on their parenting role. Results suggested ways for improving experts' assessment of parental capacities and the use of intervention programmes to promote mothers' positive conceptions and actions.     

Robust patterns and individual variations: Stability and predictors of infant behavior in the still-face paradigm

In the present study we examined key issues regarding infant behavior in the still-face paradigm (SFP) in terms of individual variations, stability, and predictors. The sample consisted of 115 mothers and infants, with assessments at ages 3 and 6 months, including observations of maternal and infant behavior in the SFP, and parent reports of infant temperament. Both robust patterns and individual variations in infant SFP behaviors were found, with only a minority of infants showing the expected patterns for negative affect and gaze. Infant behavior patterns showed no stability from age 3 to 6 months, and infant gaze was related to more pronounced behavior changes across the SFP. Maternal sensitivity in the SFP baseline was related to some aspects of infant SFP behavior. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, in infants with a more difficult temperament maternal sensitivity predicted a more pronounced expected pattern of changes in infant positive affect across the SFP, whereas this was not the case for infants with a more easy temperament.     

Feasibility,Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of the Fortalezas Familiares Intervention for Latino Families Facing Maternal Depression

This pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a linguistically and culturally adapted intervention for immigrant Latina mothers with depression and their families. Fortalezas Familiares (Family Strengths) is a community‐based, 12‐week, multifamily group intervention that aims to increase communication about family processes leading up to and affected by the mother's depression, build child coping and efficacy, enhance parenting competence and skills, and promote cultural and social assets within the family. In terms of feasibility, of 16 families who enrolled and participated in the intervention, 13 families attended more than 90% of meetings and completed the intervention. Posttests reported positive changes following the intervention, including improved psychological functioning, increased family and marital support, and enhanced family functioning, as reported by mothers and other caregivers. Mothers also reported decreased conduct and hyperactivity problems among their children. Children reported positive changes in their psychological functioning and coping, parenting warmth and acceptance, and overall family functioning. Postintervention focus groups and surveys measuring acceptability revealed families' satisfaction with the intervention and suggested areas of improvement. We discuss similarities and differences in outcomes between the adapted intervention, Fortalezas Familiares, and the original intervention, Keeping Families Strong, and propose future areas of intervention adaptation and development.     

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.     

When I move,you move: Associations between automatic and person-coded measures of infant-mother synchrony during free-play using virtual in-home data collection

The relationship between movement synchrony and global scores of behavioral synchrony were investigated during a naturalistic free-play between 33 infants (ages 12- to 24-months) and their mothers using a video-conferencing platform. We assessed movement synchrony by applying an automatic tool, motion-energy analysis (MEA), to the obtained video data. Dyadic movement synchrony was associated with higher levels of maternal sensitivity, infant involvement, dyadic reciprocity, and a child-led interaction pattern. This demonstrates the feasibility of using MEA as an automatic tool for assessing movement synchrony in mother-infant dyads and its application for investigating naturalistic at-home free play sessions in a remote setting.     

Maternal psychological functioning mediates the association between infant behavior and subsequent child psychological functioning

Symptoms of psychopathology that onset during childhood are often more severe, chronic, and difficult to treat than symptoms that first appear later in life. Maternal psychological symptoms are associated with the development of psychological symptoms in children. However, less research focuses on whether children’s behaviors may presage maternal psychological difficulties that, in turn, contribute to the child’s own psychological functioning. Identifying psychological difficulties in families and intervening in early life may lower risk for intergenerational transmission of subsequent psychological symptoms. Even at non-clinical or normative levels, exploring transactional models of parent-child behavior and psychological functioning may provide insight into the development of later psychological difficulties or symptoms within families. Thus, the current study examined whether difficult infant behavior (e.g., fussiness, unpredictability) is associated with future maternal psychological difficulties and subsequently, the child’s own psychological functioning in early childhood. The current sample includes 847 dyads from a multi-wave birth cohort in England (‘Born in Bradford’), who identified as predominantly non-White (62.2%) and socioeconomically diverse. Mothers reported on their child’s behaviors at 6 months, their own psychological functioning during pregnancy and at 18 months postpartum, and their child’s psychological functioning at age 3. Results of a mediation model revealed that the association between infant behavior at 6 months and child psychological functioning at 3 years is partially explained by maternal psychological functioning at 18 months, even after accounting for psychological difficulties during pregnancy, maternal age at birth, child sex, family income, and ethnicity. Post-hoc exploratory analyses revealed that the association between infant behavior, maternal psychological functioning, and subsequent child psychological functioning was significant for Pakistani British families but not White British families. These findings provide preliminary evidence that infant behaviors (e.g., temperament) may presage future maternal psychological difficulties and subsequent child psychological functioning, above and beyond previous maternal psychological functioning. Importantly, these results highlight infant behavior as a potential catalyst for later psychological difficulties within families.     

Infant screen media usage and social-emotional functioning

There has been little research on whether and how screen media usage affects social-emotional (SE) function prior to two years of age, even though early SE development is understood to be nurtured through interpersonal experience, mainly withthe primary caregiver. This study sought to characterise infant screen media usage and understand how it may link with concurrent SE function by testing associated effects on reducing parent-infant interaction and of parent psychological factors. Questionnaire responses from 327 UK-based parents of infants aged 6–24 months showed diverse usage in the amount of time spent on screen media (‘screen time’) and amount of parental involvement (co-sharing and co-referencing). Infants with possible SE delay experienced more screen time than those at low risk. The study tested three mediation models and found support for the displacement and not distancing hypothesis based on this community sample. While screen time predicted both SE competence and SE problems, reduced parent-infant play partially mediated the effect on SE competence. Parent depressed mood was positively linked with infant SE problems, but there was little evidence that increased screen time mediated this effect. Also, parent reflective function and attitudes toward parent-infant play were unrelated to screen time. Though longitudinal study is warranted, the findings implicate screen media usage as potentially directly and indirectly relevant when addressing infant mental health.     

Prenatal exposure to maternal depression is related to the functional connectivity organization underlying emotion perception in 8-10-month-old infants – Preliminary findings

Emotion perception is critical for infant’s social development. Mother’s mood during pregnancy has been associated with infants’ emotional developmental risks. Graphtheory analysis was applied on EEG data recorded from 35, 8-to-10-month-old-infants prenatally exposed to high or low depressed symptoms, while viewing happy and sad faces. We found an interaction between group and emotion such that infants exposed to high-depressed-symptoms showed higher modularity – reflecting reduced perceptual-dynamics - for viewing happy emotions compared to sad. The opposite was observed for infants exposed to low-depressive-symptoms. These preliminary findings suggest that prenatal depressive mood may shape early functional organization for viewing emotional faces.     

A comprehensive model of women’s social cognition and responsiveness to infant crying: Integrating personality,emotion, executive function,and sleep

Disparate lines of research suggest that women’s (a) emotion regulation and personality, (b) executive function and (c) sleep may be important predictors of mothers’ cry responding in part through their effects on social cognition. However, the extent to which each contributes to cry responding independently remains unknown. We examined this question in a convenience sample of 109 nulliparous undergraduate women. Women completed online surveys to assess personality and emotion dysregulation traits, then visited the lab for a testing session during which they reported on sleep the night before and reactions to videotapes of crying infants and completed computerized working memory and inhibitory control tasks under challenging noise conditions (exposure to traffic and cry sounds). Results indicate that women’s positive personality and higher working memory were associated with higher levels of infant-oriented cry processing (i.e., accurate distress detection, empathy and situational/emotional attributions about distress), which in turn was associated with higher intended responsiveness to infant crying. Emotion dysregulation and deficits in inhibitory control were associated with higher levels of self-oriented cry processing (i.e., anger, anxiety, negative and emotion minimizing attributions in response to infant distress), which in turn was associated with lower cry responsiveness. Short-term sleep deprivation was associated with lower intended responsiveness via the above path from poorer inhibitory control to heightened self-oriented cry processing. Findings suggest that sleep, emotional and cognitive factors are associated with cry processing and subsequent responsiveness independent of one another.     

Napping alone in the snow and cuddling with mommy at night: An exploratory,qualitative study of Norwegian beliefs on infant sleep

This study addresses Norwegian infants’ sleeping places during the day and night. In the first part we asked the general public to indicate where they think infants should sleep by placing stickers on a depiction of different sleeping places. This revealed that infants were expected to predominantly sleep outside in a stroller during the day and either bedshare, room share or sleep independently from their parents at night. Interviews with Norwegian mothers confirmed these patterns and revealed that mothers emphasized the benefits of fresh air and being out in nature. They expressed valuing independence, though their opinions on how this could be achieved diverged, some proposing independent, other co-sleeping. Other outcomes of sleeping arrangements were rarely mentioned. Some, particularly mothers whose children bedshared or had different sleeping places from one night to the other or throughout the night, emphasized the infants’ right to choose how to sleep. None of the mothers endorsed letting infants cry themselves to sleep but many mentioned the importance of the child feeling secure. We argue that the seemingly contradictory sleeping patterns is in line with cultural values for independence, social cohesion and a love of nature.