If You Go Down to the Woods Today: Infants' Distress During a Teddy Bear's Picnic in Relation to Peer Relations and Later Emotional Problems.

Dale F Hay,Ian Goodyer,Lisa Mundy,Rebecca Phillips,Mirjam Meeuwsen,Siwan Roberts,Stephanie H M Van Goozen,Oliver Perra

doi:10.1111/infa.12172

Abstract

Infants’ emotional reactions to an unusual event were assessed at a simulated birthday party during which two costumed characters enacted a Teddy Bear's Picnic. Two hundred and fifty‐eight firstborn infants in a representative British community sample were observed at a mean age of 12.8 months in the presence of their parents and other participating families, in a laboratory sitting room decorated with balloons and banners. The picnic scenario was followed by free play with the other participating infants. At a mean of 36 months of age, mothers, fathers, and another informant who knew the child well completed the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL). The majority of infants showed no vocal distress during the picnic scenario. A minority of infants expressed strong distress, which was correlated with elevated heart rate and production of cortisol. Infants who were not distressed were more likely to direct social behavior to their peers and especially likely to use physical force against peers. In comparison with strongly distressed and nondistressed infants, those who had shown mild distress during the picnic scenario were least likely to manifest later emotional problems. This pattern was particularly marked for boys. Taken together, the findings indicate that infants’ strong distress during naturalistic encounters that are meant to be entertaining can suppress sociability and might indicate risk for subsequent emotional problems.

Highlights

Infants’ emotional reactions to an unusual event were assessed at a simulated birthday party during which two costumed characters enacted a Teddy Bear’s Picnic
The findings indicate that infants’ strong distress during naturalistic encounters that are meant to be entertaining can suppress sociability and might indicate risk for subsequent emotional problems
Because heart rate and cortisol production depend on different biological systems, there was no expectation that the two physiological measures would themselves be correlated

Summary

Introduction

Infants’ emotional reactions to an unusual event were assessed at a simulated birthday party during which two costumed characters enacted a Teddy Bear’s Picnic. We presented 12-month-old infants and their families with a social situation that could possibly evoke pleasure, interest, or distress: a simulated birthday party with costumed characters, a fairy-tale princess, and a teddy bear (Figure 1). The Teddy Bear’s Picnic paradigm simulates experiences in everyday life, when children meet costumed characters at a party, fundraising event, or amusement park. In examining infants’ reactions to the Teddy Bear’s Picnic scenario, we have considered distress to be a multidimensional phenomenon. Our first aim was to examine whether infants’ overt distress in response to the picnic scenario was associated with elevated heart rate and/or elevated cortisol levels. As the literature suggests, fearful reactions to novel stimuli signal risk for later shyness while fearless

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