Infant emotion regulation with mothers and fathers

Abstract

This study was designed to examine infant emotion regulation within mildly frustrating delay situations with mothers and fathers. Contextual influences on, and consistent individual differences in, observed strategy use and expressed emotion were assessed in a sample of 12 1 2 -to 14-month- old infants, each seen on two occasions, once with each parent. Infants were seen in two delay situations with each parent, one in which the parent was asked to remain fairly inactive, and one in which no restrictions were placed on parental behavior. Results suggested strong contextual (parent- passive vs. parent-active) influences on the level of expressed negative versus positive emotion, and on the types of emotion regulation strategies used by infants, but few sex-of-parent effects. Overall, results suggest that expressed emotion and strategy use are more similar than different in interactions with mothers and fathers. However, some differential use of particular emotion regulation strategies may reflect developing adaptations made by infants to different characteristics of relationships with mothers and fathers.