Early Mother-infant Interaction Research Articles

Mother-infant self- and interactive contingency at four months and infant cognition at one year: A view from microanalysis

Although a considerable literature documents associations between early mother-infant interaction and cognitive outcomes in the first years of life, few studies examine the contributions of contingently coordinated mother-infant interaction to infant cognitive development. This study examined associations between the temporal dynamics of the contingent coordination of mother-infant face-to-face interaction at 4 months and cognitive performance on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at age one year in a sample of (N = 100) Latina mother-infant pairs. Split-screen videotaped interactions were coded on a one second time base for the communication modalities of infant and mother gaze and facial affect, infant vocal affect, and mother touch. Multi-level time-series models evaluated self- and interactive contingent processes in these modalities and revealed 4-month patterns of interaction associated with higher one-year cognitive performance, not identified in prior studies. Infant and mother self-contingency, the moment-to-moment probability that the individual’s prior behavior predicts the individual’s future behavior, was the most robust measure associated with infant cognitive performance. Self-contingency findings showed that more varying infant behavior was optimal for higher infant cognitive performance, namely, greater modulation of negative affect; more stable maternal behavior was optimal for higher infant cognitive performance, namely, greater likelihood of sustaining positive facial affect. Although interactive contingency findings were sparse, they showed that, when mothers looked away, or dampened their faces to interest or mild negative facial affect, infants with higher 12-month cognitive performance were less likely to show negative vocal affect. We suggest that infant ability to modulate negative affect, and maternal ability to sustain positive affect, may be mutually reinforcing, together creating a dyadic climate that is associated with more optimal infant cognitive development.

Musical Relationships: Towards a Phenomenological Analysis of Early Mother-Infant Interactions

"This paper investigates musical relationships in the case of the early mother-infant dyadic interactions. To accomplish this task, it is first needed to come back to some important authors from the tradition of both phenomenology and psychoanalysis. The theories of Husserl, Schutz and Taipale will prove themselves to be useful. Secondly, I shall deepen the investigation of the early mother-infant interactions through the prism of theories coming from Winnicott, Stern and Thomas Fuchs. My main task will be to demonstrate that these early interactions have a musical quality, similar to Colwyn Trevarthen’s thematization of communicative musicality. To prove my point, I have to first establish the features that make these early interactions be musical-like. Winnicott’s potential space and the example of babbling will follow my argumentation. I will also stress on the importance of the face-to-face interaction through affect attunement and mutual tuning-in. All these interactions are modes of being-with-another (Stern). An example will be found throughout this paper, namely a specific mode of being-with-another, which was called by Winnicott the primary maternal preoccupation. Keywords: musical relationships, babbling, potential space, face-to-face interaction, mutual tuning-in, affect attunement, primary maternal preoccupation, synchronization, rhythm, being-with. "

The impact of maternal gaze responsiveness on infants’ gaze following and later vocabulary development

Research has shown that infants’ language development is influenced by their gaze following—an ability linked to their cognitive and social development. Following social learning approaches, this pilot study explored whether variations in gaze following and later vocabulary scores relate to early mother–infant interactions by focusing on the role of mothers’ gaze responsiveness in infants’ attentional and language development. We recruited 15 mother–child pairs in Poland and assessed their engagement in joint attention episodes. Results indicate that mothers foster their infants' gaze-following ability by providing them with numerous opportunities to participate in the task. We also confirmed a correlation between infants’ gaze-following ability at 6 months and their vocabulary scores at 24 months. However, combining both infants’ gaze following and mothers’ gaze monitoring as predictors in one model revealed that maternal gaze monitoring was a stronger predictor of infants’ later vocabulary growth. Overall, this study emphasizes that mothers’ gaze responsiveness is a crucial feature of scaffolding that impacts on infants’ gaze following and language development.

Story stems in early mother-infant interaction promote pretend play at 30 months

During early childhood, play develops through levels of sensory exploration and manipulation, to functional activities and during the second year of life to the level of pretend and symbolic play. However, little is known about the factors contributing to individual variations in the development of play. The present study investigated associations between maternal sensitivity and play conditions with different ways of engaging and participating and children’s development of pretend play. Participants were 64 primiparous mothers and their 30-months-old children. Sensitivity was assessed using the Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB) coding system, and children’s play was coded using the 12 Step Play Scale. Analyses showed no significant associations between sensitivity and children’s play development but a play condition introducing a story stem was associated with a higher developmental play level and longer duration of pretend play compared to free interactive play. The findings suggest that the use of a story stem may promote pretend play in interactive settings with the mother.

Changes in patterns of Early Mother-Child Interaction: A longitudinal study of the first 18 months of life

ObjectiveThe main objective of the present longitudinal study is to describe the progression of early adult-child interactions between the first and second years of life. Changes identified in interactions are described, focusing on both the qualitative aspects of maternal responses, as well as maternal response latency to the child's behavior using a microanalytical methodology that collected data on maternal and child behavior in real-time without losing sight of the temporal dimension. ParticipantsThis study examined 52 mother-child dyads from intact families that presented no psychological, social, or biological risk factors at 6, 12 and 18 months of age. InstrumentCITMI-R (early mother-child interaction coding system, revised edition) was used to assess early mother-infant interactions during free play sessions between mother and child the. ResultsThe results indicate that some components of maternal sensitivity improve as children progress towards the second year of life, detecting an increase in sensitive maternal behavior and a decrease in intrusive behavior in the evolutive observed period; moreover, regarding latency of maternal response, we observed that mothers of older children give more time for their children to explore, which stimulates autonomy. Finally, the implication of these results for intervention directed to optimizing early adult-child interactions are addressed.

Effect of maternal eating disorders on mother-infant quality of interaction, bonding and child temperament: Alongitudinal study.

This study aims to investigate the effect of maternal eating disorders (ED) on mother-infant quality of interaction at 8weeks and bonding and child temperament at 1 and 2years postnatally. We also aimed to explore the relationship between maternal ED psychopathology, comorbid psychiatric difficulties, and both mother-infant quality of interaction and bonding in women with ED. Women were recruited to a prospective longitudinal study. By the time of giving birth, the sample consisted of 101 women of the initial 137 (73.7%). Overall, 62 women (ED=36; HC=26) participated in the 8-week assessment, 42 (ED=20; HC=22) at 1year, and 78 (ED=34; HC=44) at 2years. Mann-Whitney U Test was used to explore association between maternal ED and mother-infant quality of interaction and between maternal ED and bonding. Spearman correlations were used to explore associations between maternal ED psychopathology, comorbid psychiatric difficulties, and both mother-infant quality of interaction and bonding. We found no differences between early mother-infant interaction and bonding in mothers with ED in comparison to HC. High levels of maternal ED psychopathology were correlated with high anxiety levels, higher negative affectivity, and lower extraversion in children of ED mothers both at 1 and 2years. Furthermore, high levels of ED psychopathology were also associated with lower effortful control at 1year. Findings imply that maternal ED have an impact on child temperament. Future research should focus on resilience and on which protective factors might lead to positive outcomes. These factors can be then used as therapeutic and preventative targets.

Doğum Tipi ve Anksiyetenin Erken Anne Bebek Etkileşimine Etkisi: Türkiye’den Bir Çalışma

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of women’s mode of delivery and anxiety on early mother-infant interaction.
 Method: This was a cross-sectional study. The sample of the study consisted of pregnant women who applied to the delivery room of a state hospital between September 2015 and August 2016 (n:324). Sociodemographic form, state anxiety scale and mother-infant interaction form were used in the study.
 Results: It was determined that 54.9% of the mothers gave birth normally, 48.1% had high anxiety and the mean score of the state anxiety scale was 41.73±6.79. The mother-infant interaction scale first contact mean score was 8.39 ± 1.92, while the second day contact score was 8.94 ± 1.67. In addition, it was determined that 28.1% of mothers in the mother-infant interaction needed midwife/nurse support at the first contact and 19.8% at the second day of contact. A statistically significant difference was found between mode of delivery and mother-baby first contact scores (p0.05). A significant negative correlation at a medium level was determined between the mothers’ anxiety score and their scores on the mother-baby interaction scale for first contact and second day contact (p

Psychological Well-Being, Prenatal Attachment, and Quality of Early Mother-Infant Interaction: A Pilot Study With a Sample of Mothers With or Without Cancer History.

Given the positive impact of high-quality mother–infant interaction on child development, and that such relationship might be hindered by maternal stresses such past cancer, research is needed to understand protective and risk factors in this clinical population. As almost no data is available on the impact of history of cancer on the quality of mother–infant interaction, a multicentric and longitudinal pilot study was conducted. Differences in women’s prenatal psychological well-being and attachment (T1, third trimester), and postnatal quality of mother–infant interaction (T2, 2–5 months) were assessed in a sample of Italian mothers with (N = 11) or without cancer history (N = 13). Results showed that women did not differ significantly in their prenatal well-being (assessed with the Profile of Mood States questionnaire) and levels of attachment (assessed with the Prenatal Attachment Inventory). Looking at mother–infant interactions (assessed using the Global Rating Scale at T2), while maternal sensitivity, warmth and intrusiveness, and infant distress and attentiveness did not differ between the two groups, in the clinical group, mothers were more remote and less absorbed in the infant, and infants showed fewer positive communications. These findings might shed light on potential protective and risk factors for early parenting and later child outcomes in this clinical population.

Maternal social support, depression and emotional availability in early mother-infant interaction: Findings from a pregnancy cohort

BackgroundSocial support theory suggests that parental social support may influence the nature of early parenting behaviours and specifically the mother-infant relationship. This study examines whether support from a partner, friends or family is associated with differences in quality of mother-infant interactions in the context of maternal depression. Methods210 women were followed from early pregnancy to six months postpartum within Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS). Mother-infant interactions within a standardised observation at six months postpartum were measured by the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales using total scores of the parental scales. In early and late pregnancy and at six months postpartum, mothers rated perceived maternal social support from a partner, family and friends using subscales of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Depression was measured in early pregnancy and at six months postpartum using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-TR, with repeated measurement of depressive symptoms by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Data was analysed using structural equation models. ResultsThere were significant interactions between depressive symptoms in early pregnancy and perceived maternal support from a partner (B = .18, 95% CI = 03, .31) and separately from family (B = .12, 95% CI = .03, .32) in predicting maternal emotional availability. No such interaction was found for support from friends. While partner and family support moderated the association between early depressive symptoms and emotional availability, there were no direct associations between maternal depressive disorder in early pregnancy and perceived support, and further, maternal depression was not a significant predictor of emotional availability. LimitationsFuture studies should consider extending measurement of the mother-infant relationship beyond the EA Scales, inclusion of a measure of maternal childhood trauma, and replicating our findings. ConclusionMaternal perception of partner and family support in the postpartum is a predictor of the association between early pregnancy depressive symptoms and maternal emotional availability.

Early maternal care and amygdala habituation to emotional stimuli in adulthood.

Evidence suggests that maternal care constitutes a protective factor for psychopathology which may be conditional on the level of family adversity. Given that psychopathology is frequently linked with social deficits and the amygdala with social functioning, we investigated the impact of early maternal care on amygdala function under high vs low familial risk for psychopathology. Amygdala activity and habituation during an emotional face-matching paradigm was analyzed in participants of an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth (n = 172, 25 years). Early mother–infant interaction was assessed during a standardized nursing and play setting at the age of 3 months. Information on familial risk during the offspring’s childhood and on the participants’ lifetime psychopathology was obtained with diagnostic interviews. An interaction between maternal stimulation and familial risk was found on amygdala habituation but not on activation, with higher maternal stimulation predicting stronger amygdala habituation in the familial risk group only. Furthermore, amygdala habituation correlated inversely with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses. The findings underline the long-term importance of early maternal care on the offspring’s socioemotional neurodevelopment and of interventions targeting maternal sensitivity early in life, particularly by increasing maternal interactive behavior in those with familial risk.

Maternal substance use disorder predicting children's emotion regulation in middle childhood: the role of early mother-infant interaction

BackgroundMaternal prenatal substance use disorder (SUD) represents a dual risk for child wellbeing due to teratogenic impacts and parenting problems often inherent in SUD. One potential mechanism transferring this risk is altered development of children's emotion regulation (ER). The present study examines how mother's prenatal SUD and early mother-infant interaction quality predict children's ER in middle childhood. MethodThe participants were 52 polysubstance using mothers and 50 non-users and their children. First-year mother-infant interaction quality was assessed with the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales and children's ER with the Children's Emotion Management Scales (CEMS), and its parent version (P-CEMS) at 8–12 years. ResultsMother's prenatal SUD predicted a low level of children's adaptive ER strategies, whereas early mother-infant interaction problems predicted a high level of emotion dysregulation. The dyadic interaction also mediated the effect of SUD on emotion dysregulation. In the SUD group, more severe substance use predicted high emotion inhibition. ConclusionEarly mother-infant interaction quality is critical in shaping children's ER, also in middle-childhood. Interventions aimed for mothers with prenatal SUD should integrate parenting components to support the optimal development of multiply vulnerable children.

Human Lateralization, Maternal Effects and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

In humans, behavioral laterality and hemispheric asymmetries are part of a complex biobehavioral system in which genetic factors have been repeatedly proposed as developmental determinants of both phenomena. However, no model solely based on genetic factors has proven conclusive, pushing towards the inclusion of environmental and epigenetic factors into the system. Moreover, it should be pointed out that epigenetic modulation might also account for why certain genes are expressed differently in parents and offspring. Here, we suggest the existence of a sensitive period in early postnatal development, during which the exposure to postural and motor lateral biases, expressed in interactive sensorimotor coordination with the caregiver, canalizes hemispheric lateralization in the “typical” direction. Despite newborns and infants showing their own inherent asymmetries, the canalizing effect of the interactive context owes most to adult caregivers (usually the mother), whose infant-directed lateralized behavior might have been specifically selected for as a population-level trait, functional to confer fitness to offspring. In particular, the case of the left-cradling bias (LCB; i.e., the population-level predisposition of mothers to hold their infants on the left side) represents an instance of behavioral trait exhibiting heritability along the maternal line, although no genetic investigation has been carried out so far. Recent evidence, moreover, seems to suggest that the reduction of this asymmetry is related to several unfavorable conditions, including neurodevelopmental disorders. Future studies are warranted to understand whether and how genetic and epigenetic factors affect the lateralization of early mother-infant interaction and the proneness of the offspring to neurodevelopmental disorders.

The Effect of a Voice-Centered Psycho-Educational Program on Maternal Self-Efficacy: A Feasibility Study.

This study examined the effect of a brief psycho-educational program, Time Together, on maternal self-efficacy, mother-infant bonding, and mood/anxiety for community-based mothers. This program centered on maternal voice, timing of interplay, and recognition of infant cues. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design included quantitative measures: the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale, the Mother-Infant Bonding Scale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and State & Trait Anxiety Inventory, and a sequential qualitative analysis to elaborate on the quantitative findings. Significant changes on the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale were found. Qualitative analysis of the participant interviews and reflective diaries from the two weeks following the psycho-educational program confirmed that participation enhanced mothers’ ability to understand their infant, to soothe their infant when distressed, to play and to establish an effective bedtime routine. This feasibility study indicated that this is a promising approach to improve early mother-infant interaction and maternal self-efficacy.

The role of mother's prenatal substance use disorder and early parenting on child social cognition at school age

AbstractThis prospective longitudinal study examined how maternal prenatal substance use disorder (SUD) and early mother–infant interaction quality are associated with child social cognition (emotion recognition and mentalization) at school age. A sample of 52 poly‐substance‐using mothers receiving early interventions and 50 non‐users, along with their children, was followed from pregnancy to school age. First‐year mother–infant interaction quality was measured with EA scales. At school age, child facial emotion recognition was measured with DANVA and mentalization with LEAS‐C. SUD group children did not differ from comparison children in social cognition, but higher severity of maternal prenatal addiction predicted emotion recognition problems. High early mother–infant interaction quality predicted better emotion recognition and mentalization, and mother–infant interaction quality mediated the effect of prenatal SUD on emotion recognition. The results highlight the need for early treatments targeting both parenting and addiction, as well as long‐term developmental support for these children.Highlights We examined how mother's prenatal substance use disorder (SUD) and early mother–infant interaction predict child social cognition at school age. Questionnaires, observational and computer tasks were used. Maternal prenatal addiction severity and early parenting problems predicted problematic child social cognition. Early interventions should simultaneously target addiction and parenting. Attention should also be paid to the long‐term developmental support of children.

Characteristics of Early Mother-Infant and Father-Infant Interactions: A Comparison between Assisted Reproductive Technology and Spontaneous Conceiving Parents.

This study aims to describe parents’ and infant’s interactive styles after assisted reproduction treatments (ART), to compare them with parent–infant interactions after spontaneous conception (SC), and to assess the effect of specific ART variables (cause of infertility, treatment type, and previous ART attempts) on interaction quality. The sample included 25 ART conceiving couples and 31 SC couples with their 3-months-old babies. Free parent–infant interactions (3–5 min) were coded using the CARE-Index, a video-based assessment scale that gives both dimensional (e.g., sensitivity, control, passivity) and categorical scores (sensitive, inept, at-risk) for parents and infants. Results showed a global similarity between groups in CARE-Index dimensions. Nevertheless, differences emerged in categorical scores, as the interactive patterns of ART parents were more frequently classified as “inept” and “at-risk” compared to SC parents. With regards to ART dyads only, infants conceived through intracytoplasmic sperm injection scored significantly lower to the dimension compulsivity and higher to passivity, compared to infants conceived through in vitro fertilization. Yet, infants conceived at the first ART cycle had significantly lower levels of difficulty than infants conceived after one ART attempt. These results speak about the existence of important parent–infant interactive differences related to conception modality and ART technique and suggest the need to implement support programs to promote more sensitive parenting styles.

Metabolomic and transcriptomic signatures of prenatal excessive methionine support nature rather than nurture in schizophrenia pathogenesis

The imbalance of prenatal micronutrients may perturb one-carbon (C1) metabolism and increase the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. Prenatal excessive methionine (MET) produces in mice behavioral phenotypes reminiscent of human schizophrenia. Whether in-utero programming or early life caregiving mediate these effects is, however, unknown. Here, we show that the behavioral deficits of MET are independent of the early life mother-infant interaction. We also show that MET produces in early life profound changes in the brain C1 pathway components as well as glutamate transmission, mitochondrial function, and lipid metabolism. Bioinformatics analysis integrating metabolomics and transcriptomic data reveal dysregulations of glutamate transmission and lipid metabolism, and identify perturbed pathways of methylation and redox reactions. Our transcriptomics Linkage analysis of MET mice and schizophrenia subjects reveals master genes involved in inflammation and myelination. Finally, we identify potential metabolites as early biomarkers for neurodevelopmental defects and suggest therapeutic targets for schizophrenia.

Maternal trauma and emotional availability in early mother-infant interaction: findings from the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Well-being Study (MPEWS) cohort

ABSTRACT Understanding how a mother’s traumatic experiences influence her interactions with her infant may have importance for understanding infant development and mental health. Data for this study were drawn from an Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study. Maternal trauma from Childhood, Childbirth Experiences, and Stressful Life Events were examined. At six-months postpartum, 211 predominantly first-time mothers (mean age 31.5 years), and their infants, were video-recorded interacting for 40 minutes. Interactions were assessed with the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales. Using structural equation modelling to test multiple mediation pathways, moderate-to-severe childhood trauma had only a direct effect on reducing maternal EA with the infant (β=−.17, p=.031), as did current stressful life events (β=−.19, p=.019), after controlling for maternal depression, age, and tertiary education. This highlights that proximate trauma specific to the perinatal period may not account for the effect of distal childhood trauma on maternal EA at six-months postpartum.

Infant emotion regulation and cortisol response during the first 2 years of life: Association with maternal parenting profiles.

This study investigated the prospective associations among emotion expression, behavioral regulation, and cortisol responses in relation to different maternal parenting behaviors during the first 2 years of the infant's life, among a sample of low-income families. Participants included 1,141 mother-child pairs, assessed when the infants were 6, 15, and 24 months old. Maternal parenting behaviors were observed at the 6-month assessment, whereas infant emotion expression, orienting toward mothers, and cortisol responses were measured using a series of emotion-eliciting tasks at all time points. A latent profile analysis revealed four maternal parenting profiles: Detached, Intrusive, Average, and Engaged. Furthermore, a multiple-group path model revealed distinct patterns of emotion development for infants within different maternal parenting groups. Among children with Engaged and Average mothers, orienting behaviors tended to predict less negative emotion and cortisol responses, which was associated with more future orienting behaviors. Conversely, among children with Intrusive and Detached mothers, orienting behaviors tended to predict more negative emotion and cortisol responses, which predicted less future orienting behaviors. Findings of this study enhance current understanding of how different profiles of maternal parenting behaviors impact infant emotional development in poverty, with significant implications for intervention programs targeting early mother-infant interactions.

Maternal depression and the emotional availability of mothers at six months postpartum: Findings from the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS) pregnancy cohort.

BackgroundExisting research suggests maternal depression may reduce the quality of early mother-infant interaction and this might increase our understanding of how maternal mental health impacts on child development outcomes. However, most studies recruit from community samples and few include both a diagnostic measure of maternal depression together with an observational measure of the quality of the mother-infant relationship. MethodsData was drawn from 210 women recruited in early pregnancy until 6 months postpartum within an Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study. Those women who at six months postpartum were video recorded interacting with their infant for at least 40-minutes were included in this study, with the quality of those interactions assessed using the Emotional Availability Scales coding system. Depression was measured using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-TR Clinician Version and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and covariates included maternal age and education. ResultsWhilst results showed a small negative association between antenatal depressive symptoms in trimester one of pregnancy and maternal EA, there was no effect of maternal depression diagnosis or of maternal depressive symptoms in later pregnancy or postpartum. LimitationsThis study focuses exclusively on mothers and does not account for the role of partners. ConclusionsMaternal depression might have a smaller effect on maternal EA then some existing research implies, with that effect most prevalent in early pregnancy. Clinical intervention might not be necessary for all mother-infant dyads experiencing depressive symptomology, but instead be directed to those with additional risk factors.

The course of maternal repetitive negative thinking at the transition to motherhood and early mother–infant interactions: Is there a link? – ADDENDUM

The course of maternal repetitive negative thinking at the transition to motherhood and early mother–infant interactions: Is there a link? – ADDENDUM