Mother-child Interaction Patterns Research Articles

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.

Child versus adolescent borderline personality disorder traits: Frequency, psychosocial correlates, and observed mother-child interactions.

Research has established the diagnostic validity of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescence. The roots of BPD often lie in childhood; however, significantly less is known about the presence and correlates of BPD traits in school-age children and whether these are comparable with those observed in adolescents. Trained psychologists administered the Childhood Interview for Borderline Personality Disorder in a cohort of 14-year-old adolescents (n = 76) and a cohort of 9-year-old children (n = 70). We compared the prevalence of BPD traits in both cohorts and investigated common psychosocial correlates (comorbidity, impaired quality of life, emotional/behavioral problems, maternal distress, and observed mother-child interaction). Children and adolescents showed no significant differences regarding the type and frequency of BPD traits. In both cohorts, BPD traits were associated with comorbidity, emotional and behavioral problems, and lower quality of life. In contrast to adolescents, children's BPD traits were not significantly related to maternal distress and showed less relations to interaction patterns. Negative maternal and dyadic behavior were associated with more BPD traits in adolescents during a conflict discussion but not during fun day planning. Our study suggests that BPD traits in children are similarly frequent as in adolescents and accompanied by psychosocial impairment. However, age-related differences were revealed, mostly indicating weaker associations with the mother-child relationship. Mother-child interaction patterns in youth seem to be especially relevant during conflict discussion and provide a target for intervention. Our study provides preliminary support for potential early detection of BPD pathology among children and encourages further study of its life span perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Stress and immune biomarkers interact with parenting behavior to shape anxiety symptoms in trauma-exposed youth

The relations between stress, HPA-axis, and the immune system have been extensively studied; however, no study to date addressed the joint contribution of immune and HPA biomarkers to the development of anxiety in youth exposed to chronic trauma as mediated by mother-child interaction patterns. A unique cohort of war-exposed children and their mothers, compared to matched controls, were followed from infancy and the current study reports findings from early adolescence (mean age = 11.66, SD = 1.23; N = 111; exposed = 58 control = 53). Youth and mothers' salivary cortisol (CT) and secretory immunoglobulin (s-IgA) levels were measured three times during a 4-hour lab visit, mother-child interaction patterns were quantified from a joint task, and children's anxiety symptoms diagnosed. Trauma-exposed children had higher levels of CT and s-IgA, exhibited more anxiety symptoms, and showed lower social collaboration with mother during the joint task. Trauma-exposed mothers had higher CT and s-IgA levels and showed less supportive parenting during mother-child interaction. Structural equation modeling defined three bio-behavioral paths by which trauma increases anxiety in youth. While the first path charted a behavioral link from exposure to child anxiety via diminished maternal support, the other two paths described mediated biological paths, one through HPA-axis functioning, the other via the immune system. Paths via the child's HPA and immune system were mediated by the parallel maternal variable. Findings are the first to describe the complex bio-behavioral interplay of stress and immune biomarkers and parenting behavior in shaping to the development of risk and resilience trajectories in youth growing up amidst chronic trauma.

Patrones de interacción madre-hijo en niños maltratados: Un estudio observacional

We compared mother-child interaction patterns of dyads of maltreated versus nonmaltreated children under two observational conditions: Academic and free-play. We evaluated the time assigned to different behavior categories by mother and child, the distribution of consequences by mothers over aggressive and positive behavior of child, and the mother-child contingency preferences. It was found that dyads with maltreatment background displayed higher indexes of aversive behavior, aversive exchanges and instructions than normal dyads. However, the scaling process as proposed by the coercion theory was not observed. These findings are discussed in the context of models oriented to the explanation of interactional patterns of children with physical maltreatment background.

Maternal depression and mother–child interaction patterns: association with toddler problems and continuity of effects to late childhood

Increased behavior problems have been reported in offspring of mothers with depression. In-home observations link maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) and mother-child interaction patterns with toddler behavior problems and examine their persistence into late childhood. Maternal characteristics (N = 153) and behaviors of two-year-old offspring (N = 215) were assessed in families from a randomly selected population cohort. Maternal self-reported depressive symptoms and observed maternal-toddler interaction patterns were evaluated as risks for toddler problem behaviors. Follow-up CBCL assessments about a decade later assessed persistence of effects identified in the toddler data. Maternal negativity toward her toddler was related to toddler problems, regardless of maternal depressive symptoms. MDS in combination with positive mother-toddler interaction showed only marginal ill effects on toddler offspring and no long-term effects. Depressive symptoms of less responsive/emotion teaching dyads were related to offspring tantrums and to mother and observer rated fearfulness, independent of family contextual risks. Analyses of Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) problem scales obtained on these children in late childhood showed persistent effects similar to those shown at the younger age. In sum, these findings suggest that for mothers with high levels of depressive symptoms, demonstrations of affection and responsiveness to toddler offspring may mitigate both current and long-term consequences on offspring behavior.

Parent-child interactions, peripheral serotonin, and self-inflicted injury in adolescents.

Self-inflicted injury in adolescence indicates significant emotional and psychological suffering. Although data on the etiology of self-injury are limited, current theories suggest that the emotional lability observed among self-injuring adolescents results from complex interactions between individual biological vulnerabilities and environmental risk. For example, deficiencies in serotonergic functioning, in conjunction with certain family interaction patterns, may contribute to the development of emotional lability and risk for self-injury. The authors explored the relation between peripheral serotonin levels and mother-child interaction patterns among typical (n = 21) and self-injuring (n = 20) adolescents. Findings revealed higher levels of negative affect and lower levels of both positive affect and cohesiveness among families of self-injuring participants. Peripheral serotonin was also correlated with the expression of positive affect within dyads. Furthermore, adolescents' serotonin levels interacted with negativity and conflict within dyads to explain 64% of the variance in self-injury. These findings underscore the importance of considering both biological and environmental risk factors in understanding and treating self-injuring adolescents.

Developmental Trends in Self‐regulation among Low‐income Toddlers

AbstractThe attainment of self‐regulatory skills during the toddler years is an understudied issue, especially among low‐income children. The present study used growth modeling to examine the change over time and the final status in children's abilities to self‐regulate, in a sample of 2,441 low‐income children aged 14 to 36 months. Positive growth in their self‐regulation occurred between 14 and 36 months, but individual variation was observed in both the growth rates and final status. Children who showed high degrees of negativity at 14, 24 and 36 months grew at slower rates than other children. Boys and children high in negativity had lower scores in self‐regulation at 36 months than girls and children with low negativity, whereas higher quality mother–child interactions at 14 and 24 months were associated with better self‐regulation at 36 months. The results suggest that some children may be at risk for developing problems in regulation because of mother–child interaction patterns and child characteristics such as high negativity.

Early lexical and morphosyntactic development in children with perinatal brain injury acquiring Croatian

The aim of this paper is to analyse early lexical and morphosyntactic development in children with perinatal brain injury acquiring Croatian. Subjects were seven monolingual children who suffered early brain injury and were selected when they started producing first word combinations and had an expressive vocabulary in a range from 50 to 200 words. A combination of parent-reports, samples of spontaneous speech and a standardized language test was used. The results were interpreted within the framework of data on language development in children with early brain injury, but also within the framework of acquiring a morphologically highly inflected language. Four of the seven subjects show delayed language expression and dissociation between language comprehension and expression. However, all subjects very early on began to use grammatical morphemes. Furthermore, an interrelation between the morphosyntactic compexity of a child's utterances and mother-child interaction patterns was found.

An analysis of mother–child interaction patterns in prison

In April 2002, there were three hundred and eighty‐six children living in prison with their mothers in South Africa, four of which were inmates of the Pretoria Female Prison. The interaction patterns between these four mothers and their children was investigated by means of individual interviews, observation, field notes and the Marschak Interaction Method. It was found that the mother‐child interaction patterns in prison of the participants in this study are typified by four themes: (1) the experience of the restrictiveness of the prison environment; (2) the in‐exclusivity of the mother‐child attachment process; (3) the mothers' inattention to situations that their children might experience as stressful; and (4) the absence of imaginative play.

Attachment at school age and academic performance.

The association between attachment and school-related cognitive functioning was longitudinally examined for a French Canadian sample of 108 school-age children. The affective quality of mother-child interaction patterns, child cognitive engagement, and quality of child attachment to mother were evaluated during a laboratory visit that included a separation-reunion procedure occurring when the children were approximately 6 years of age. Children's mastery motivation and academic performance were assessed 2 years later (at age 8). Analyses indicated that secure children had higher scores than their insecure peers on communication, cognitive engagement, and mastery motivation. Controlling children were at greatest risk for school underachievement, with the poorest performance on all measures except mastery motivation. Avoidant and ambivalent children were lowest on mastery motivation. Results of mediational analyses support the salience of mother-child interactional processes and child cognitive engagement at school age in explaining relations between attachment and cognitive functioning in school.

Mother‐Child Interaction, Private Speech, and Task Performance in Preschool Children with Behavior Problems

The purpose of the present study was to explore patterns of mother-child interaction, children's private speech use, and behavioral self-regulation among a sample of preschool children identified by their preschool teachers as evidencing behavior problems. Forty preschoolers were classified into two groups (behaviorally at-risk and a matched comparison group) on the basis of teacher ratings of impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity. Children completed a magnet board puzzle task once in collaboration with their mother and once individually, and maternal and child speech and behavior were coded from videotapes. Although there were no group differences in children's behavior or speech during the collaborative session, nor were there differences in children's individual task performance or on-task attention, mother-child interaction involving behaviorally at-risk children was characterized by more other-regulation, negative control, less praise, and less physical withdrawal over time, compared to interactions involving comparison children. Behaviorally at-risk children, compared to controls, used more overt, task-relevant private speech during individual problem solving. Partially internalized private speech use among at-risk preschoolers was positively associated with task performance. Group differences rather than similarities prevailed in terms of the relations between maternal behavior, child speech, and child performance.

Maternal interaction patterns and preschool competence in high-risk children.

The influence of specific maternal interaction patterns as compensatory mechanisms in promoting development of medically high-risk children has been understudied. To investigate the association of three maternal interaction patterns, maternal responsivity, involvement, and control style, with preschool competency in a medically heterogeneous sample. Children (N= 184) and their mothers participating in a prospective longitudinal study were assessed in a laboratory protocol and home visit. The methods of measurement were maternal self-report, global rating scales, interview, and nationally standardized instruments. Evidence of a maternal compensatory mechanism was exhibited in mothers' higher involvement with their children who were born at high medical risk (F(1,183) = 6.26, p = .01). Mothers of the most competent children demonstrated higher maternal responsivity, involvement, and more appropriate control than mothers of children who were not as competent. In hierarchical regression models, the three maternal interaction patterns were significant predictors after perinatal risk and maternal education were controlled explaining 29-37% of the variance in child competence scores. These findings imply that differential child outcomes are associated with specific maternal interaction patterns. It suggests that a combination of diverse information revealed in specific maternal interaction pattern is needed to predict cognitive, linguistic, and problem-solving competencies. Future research should consider individual differences in mother-child interaction patterns in order to isolate their significance for optimal child development.

Correlates of Attachment at School Age: Maternal Reported Stress, Mother‐Child Interaction, and Behavior Problems

The contribution of attachment, maternal reported stress, and mother-child interaction to the prediction of teacher-reported behavior problems was examined for a French-Canadian sample of 121 school-age children. Attachment classifications were assigned on the basis of reunion behavior with mother when the children were between 5 and 7 years of age. Maternal reported stress and mother-child interaction patterns were assessed concurrent to the attachment measure, whereas behavior problems were evaluated both at ages 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 years. Security of attachment significantly predicted the likelihood of school-age behavior problems: Controlling/other children were most at risk for both externalizing and internalizing problems across both age periods. Younger ambivalent children presented clinical cut-off levels of externalizing problems, and older avoidant boys had higher internalizing scores. Patterns of maternal-reported stress and mother-child interaction differed across attachment groups and contributed to prediction of school-age behavior problems, partially mediating the relation between attachment and adaptation. Results support the importance of attachment in explaining school-age adaptation and validity of attachment coding for children of this age.

Patterns of mother-child interaction in two-year-old children with externalizing-type behavior problems

Patterns of mother-child interaction in two-year-old children with externalizing-type behavior problems

Attachment in the context of high-risk conditions

AbstractThe role of attachment in interaction with other relationships and conditions was investigated in relation to children's later psychosocial development (at ages 6 and 9). Thirty-nine unipolar depressed mothers, 24 bipolar mothers, and 32 normal control mothers and their children were studied. The network of conditions defining early experience included, in addition to attachment, maternal psychopathology, marital discord, other disordered relationships in the family, and recent losses of significant persons. Patterns of mother-child interaction were also examined. Assessments of children's problems were based on psychiatric evaluations of depressive affect, anxiety, and disruptive-oppositional behavior.The findings support the conclusion that attachment enters into development in interaction with other relationships and conditions. Maternal psychopathology, in particular, in interaction with the attachment relationship, is linked to later developmental outcomes. The importance of considering mother-child interactional and dispositional characteristics is indicated. The early attachment relationship together with the ways in which the mother's depression is expressed with her child, and the child's style of coping with the mother's functioning establish patterns of behavior that influence the child's vulnerability to later problems. Multiple pathways of transmission of affective problems are discussed.

Dialogues with preadolescents and adolescents: mother-child interaction patterns in affectively ill and well dyads.

This study examined affective/communicative patterns in the interactions of unipolar, bipolar, and well mothers with their preadolescent and adolescent children. As part of a large longitudinal project, mother-child interaction was assessed for two siblings ages 8 to 11 and 12 to 16. Interactional difficulties were linked to both maternal affective illness and child problem status. Preadolescent children appeared more comfortable/happy with well mothers than with affectively ill mothers. Mothers and their preadolescents were more critical/irritable with each other when the child had a psychiatric disorder. Gender differences were apparent, particularly in regard to mother's current psychiatric status. Interactions in adolescent-daughter dyads were more critical when mothers met criteria for a major depressive episode within the month. The results illuminate interactive processes through which psychopathology may be perpetuated in families.

Interactive Problem-solving of Gifted and Non-gifted Preschoolers With Their Mothers

This study investigated differences in the verbal interactions of 14 gifted and 14 average-ability preschoolers and their mothers during three problemsolving tasks. Results indicated that mothers of gifted children were significantly more likely to encourage metacognitive strategies such as predicting consequences of intended actions, monitoring the ongoing activity and reality testing. Mothers of average children provided more direct solutions and talked more about child non-task behaviour. Gifted children showed greater verbal fluency and focused more often on multiple problem components but their verbal behaviour did not suggest child differences in autonomous metacognitive functioning. Sequential analyses of mother-child interaction patterns indicated that gifted preschoolers primarily used metacognitive tactics after maternal modelling, but also significantly more often as responses to less direct maternal prompts, suggesting increasing skill in child use of these tactics with decreasing maternal support. In keeping with Vygotskian theory, it is argued that 4-year-olds are in a transitional phase where social factors constrain both the internalisation and the coordination of cognitive tactics necessary for the construction of more mature problemsolving strategies.

Effects of maternal mood on mother-son interaction patterns

This study evaluated the impact of maternal mood on mother-son interaction patterns. Forty boys between the ages of 46 and 72 months and their mothers participated. A within-subject experimental design was employed so that all mothers participated in both a positive and a negative mood induction. Observations of mother-son interactions were conducted immediately following the mood inductions. During the negative mood condition, mothers issued fewer positive statements toward their children and engaged in less general verbal interaction. In addition, children were less complaint with maternal commands during the negative mood condition. Implications of the effects of mood on mother-child interaction patterns are discussed.

Successful intervention with multi-problem mothers: Effects on the mother-infant relationship

A two-step model of intervention for multi-problem mothers was proposed. In order to improve mother-child interaction and later developmental outcomes, the first step is for the practitioner to help the mother change her external competencies (adult social skills) and internal perceptions (support, depression). These changes make the second step possible—the mother then can learn to foster her own child's development. The model was tested in a study of 95 multi-problem women who participated in a nursing intervention program from mid-pregnancy through the child's first birthday. The results supported the two-step model. Improvements in the mothers' external competencies were related to completion of intervention goals. These external improvements also were related to more optimal patterns of mother-child interaction during teaching and feeding episodes at 1 year. Furthermore, an especially insecure type of attachment relationship was found more frequently among the infants of mothers in the group that did not improve. Changes in internal perceptions were unrelated to intervention or interaction measures. These unexpected results suggest that the mother's internal improvements may have a more delayed or a less direct effect upon the child.

The assessment of mother-child interactions in physically abusive and nonabusive families

Physically abusive mothers and their children were compared with matched nonabusive mothers and their children in a laboratory playroom setting. Parenting skills, as well as mother-child interaction patterns, were assessed using three different tasks designed to create varying levels of parental stress and child frustration. Mother-child interactions were observed and coded. Questionnaire measures of knowledge of child behavior and a measure of social desirability were also administered. Discriminant function analyses revealed that 10 of the 11 abusive mothers and 10 of the 12 control mothers could be correctly identified, representing an 87% classification rate. The main difference between the two groups was in the overall rate of activity. Abusive mothers engaged in significantly less behavior toward their children than control mothers; behavior rates were essentially similar for both groups of children. Abusive mothers contingently praised appropriate behavior significantly less often than controls, and abused children complied significantly less often to requests. The implications of these findings for the understanding and treatment of abusive parent-child interactions were discussed.