Poster #14 - Baseline EEG Asymmetry in Women is Associated with Responses to Infant Distress Cues

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Biological Processes: Neuroscience and Genetics

Integrative Statement

Maternal sensitivity describes the extent to which mothers respond quickly, contingently and appropriately to their infants’ cues (Ainsworth et al., 1978). Sensitive responses to distress (e.g., fusses, cries) have been shown to be distinct from responses to non-distress (e.g., smiles, interest) and predict subsequent socio-emotional adjustment including attachment security, better affective and physiological regulation and fewer behavior problems over and above sensitivity to non-distress (Leerkes, 2011; Leerkes et al., 2009; Leerkes et al., 2012). Thus, identifying predictors of maternal sensitivity to distress has important clinical implications. Previous research has demonstrated that how women process infant crying cues is a significant predictor of maternal sensitivity (Leerkes, 2010). However, relatively little work has examined how measures of intrinsic neurophysiological functioning, such as baseline asymmetry, may be linked with the processing of these cues and subsequent responding. Frontal EEG asymmetry measured in a baseline period has been identified as a trait-like individual difference variable related to emotional responding and emotional disorders (Coan & Allen, 2004) that is therefore likely to predict women’s own emotional responses to infant distress cues, as well as correct detection and attribution of these cues.
Participants in this study were N=108 nulliparous college-aged females (18-25 years, M = 19.8; 52% White, 40% African American, 8% other) who came for a laboratory visit in which baseline EEG was measured before they viewed four 1-minute video clips of infants crying in response to fear- and anger-inducing stimuli. After viewing the videos, participants completed a series of questionnaires assessing 1) their own emotional responses to the infant crying, yielding 4 composite scores: empathy/sympathy for baby, amusement, self-oriented anxiety, and irritation with the infant; 2) infants’ distress and displayed emotions to yield a score for accurate emotion detection; and 3) attributions about why the baby was crying which yielded 3 scores: situational/emotional attributions (e.g., the situation was stressful), negative attributions (e.g., the baby is difficult), emotion minimizing attributions (e.g., the baby was hungry) (Leerkes et al., 2015; 2016).
Preliminary results suggest that women with relatively greater right frontal (vs. left frontal) baseline EEG activity reported feeling significantly less amusement (r = .20, p = .04) and marginally more empathy/concern (r = -.17, p = .07) in response to the infant crying videos in general, and marginally greater sympathy (r = -.18, p = .06) in response to the anger-inducing video only. With regard to accurate emotion detection, women exhibiting right frontal baseline EEG asymmetry also showed greater accuracy for correctly identifying anger (r = -.23, p =.02), but not fear (r = -.02, p =.88). Finally, greater right frontal baseline EEG asymmetry was also correlated with more situational/emotional attributions (e.g. baby was upset by the situation) about the infant distress videos (r = -.25, p =.01). These findings suggest that women’s own neural functioning may be an important predictor of their emotional responses to infant distress cues as well as their ability to correctly identify and attribute the infant’s distress, with implications for responding sensitively to infant distress in the context of caregiving.

Authors

• Margaret Swingler, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Devin Tilley, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Esther Leerkes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author