- Browse/Search the Program
Search
Program Calendar
Browse By Day
Browse By Time
Browse By Panel
Browse By Session Type
Browse By Topic Area
- Information Menu
Search Tips
Virtual Exhibit Hall
- Navigation and Settings Menu
Personal Schedule
Sign In
- Social Media Menu
Facebook
X (Twitter)
3-073 - Emotional Availability (EA) Across Contexts: Culture, Family Risk and Systems beyond the Mother-Child Dyad
Sat, April 8, 10:30am to 12:00pm, Austin Convention Center, Meeting Room 13BSession Type: Paper Symposium
Integrative Statement
Emotional availability (EA) (Biringen, 2008; Biringen et al., 2014; Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998) is a dyadic quality of adult-child relationships that considers both the adult and child’s contribution to the relationship. EA is based on the integration of attachment (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Bowlby, 1969) and emotion theories (Emde, 1980). As an observational construct, EA features four caregiver dimensions (sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, and nonhostility) and two child dimensions (responsiveness and involvement of the adult). Each dimension is described on continuous scales, ranging from high to inconsistent to low. EA includes not only the verbal, but also the nonverbal features of emotional communication between partners, and can be applied to multiple caregiving settings beyond the mother-child relationship. There is also impressive support for the cross-cultural applicability of EA in almost 30 societies (Biringen et al., 2014; Trapolini, 2006).
This symposium brings together four longitudinal studies from Australia, Finland, and the U.S. to address the use of EA in different cultural contexts, microsystems, and risk groups. The first paper examines the mediating mechanisms between EA and socioemotional development in the transition to kindergarten. The second paper examines prenatal/infancy predictors of school-age EA as well as its concurrent child and maternal socioemotional correlates among prenatally substance-abusing mothers. The third paper addresses the relationship of EA to infant bonding and parental substance-use, including both mothers and fathers. The fourth paper brings in the context of a day-care group setting, where EA-based intervention is used to increase EA among day care personnel.
Sub Unit
Chair
Individual Presentations
The Transition to School: Emotional Availability and Child Narratives Predict Child Adjustment to Kindergarten - Presenting Author: Hannah Saunders, Colorado State University; Jun Wang, Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA; Shauna Skillern Fisher, Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Kate Shepard, Shadow Me Speech Therapy; Jennifer Gerber Moné, Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Zeynep Biringen, Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Early and Concurrent Correlates of Maternal School-age Emotional Availability in a Prenatally Substance-Abusing Sample - Presenting Author: Marjo Flykt, University of Tampere, Finland; Raija-Leena Punamäki, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland; Kaisa Saurio, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/ Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland; Jallu Lindblom, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland; Zeynep Biringen, Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Sanna Isosävi, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/ Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland; Ritva Belt, City of Tampere, Finland
Predictors of Mother-Infant and Father-Infant EA at 12-months: The Role of Postnatal Bonding, Substance use and Mental Health - Presenting Author: Larissa Rossen, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney, Australia; Delyse Hutchinson, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney, Australia and Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Department of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; Wilson Judy, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Lucy Burns, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney, Australia; Steve Allsop, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia; Elizabeth Elliott, 5Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Sue Jacobs, Department of Obstetrics, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia; Craig Olsson, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Department of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; Jacqui A Macdonald, Deakin University Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology; Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, and; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Clare McCormack, Columbia University; Richard Mattick, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
PedaSens intervention and development of adult-child interaction in the Finnish day care toddler groups - Presenting Author: Sivi Harkoma, Children’s Stress Regulation and Learning -project (Early Special Education), Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland; Jukka Mäkelä, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland; Nina Sajaniemi, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland