Infant Emotion Regulation with Mothers and Fathers: The Roles of Infant Temperament and Parent Psychopathology

• In Event: 3-054 - The Contributions of Child Physiology and Parent-Child Interactions to Children’s Emotion Regulation Strategy Use

Integrative Statement

A child’s ability to regulate his/her emotions is an important skill with implications for positive developmental outcomes, including academic achievement and social competence (Blandon et al., 2008; Graziano et al., 2007). There are two prevailing models that explain how individual differences (child temperament) and environmental factors (parent psychopathology) contribute to the development of emotion regulation. The diathesis-stress model proposes that individual differences in temperament may increase one’s risk for emotion dysregulation or externalizing behaviors (Belsky & Pluess, 2009; Stoltz et al., 2017). Alternatively, the differential susceptibility model states that some individuals may be more susceptible than others to the effects of different environmental influences leading to either positive or negative self-regulation outcomes (Ellis et al., 2011; Kim & Kochanska, 2012). Research examining emotion regulation from a diathesis-stress and/or differential susceptibility framework has mainly focused on child negative temperamental reactivity and maternal depression/anxiety symptoms, while research on other temperamental factors and paternal depression/anxiety symptoms is lacking (e.g. Ramchandani et al., 2011). The current study extends previous research by examining how multiple factors of infant temperament and parental depression/anxiety symptoms predict infant emotion regulation strategies with mothers and fathers.

The present study uses data from a larger longitudinal study examining socioemotional development when infants are 4, 6, and 8 months of age (+/- 14 days). Participants in the current study included mothers, fathers, and 4-month-old infants. Mothers/fathers completed questionnaires assessing infant temperament (Infant Behavior Questionnaire –Revised; Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003) and parent depression/anxiety symptoms (Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms; Watson et al., 2007). Infant emotion regulation strategies (Braungart-Rieker et al., 1998) were rated by trained, reliable coders during a parent-ignore episode of a face-to-face parent-infant play task (Still-Face Paradigm, parent order counterbalanced; Tronick et al., 1978).

Preliminary regression model results revealed differences in predictors of infant emotion regulation strategies with mothers (n=44 dyads) and fathers (n=42 dyads). For mother models, a significant infant negative reactivity X mother traumatic intrusions symptoms interaction predicted infant parent-focused strategies (B= -0.101, SE= 0.039, p= 0.013). Follow-up simple slope analyses revealed at low levels of infant negative reactivity, as their mothers’ traumatic intrusions increased, infant parent-focused strategies increased (B= 0.087, SE= 0.030, t=2.910, p= 0.006; See Figure 1). For father models, significant infant surgency X father lassitude symptoms interaction predicted infant parent-focused strategies (B= 0.044, SE= 0.018, p= 0.020). Follow-up simple slope analyses revealed at high levels of infant surgency, as father lassitude increased, infant parent-focused strategies increased (B=0.049, SE= 0.014, t= 3.583, p=0.001; See Figure 2). Subsequent analyses will examine associations with additional parent-infant dyads. Findings reinforce the importance of assessing multiple factors of temperament and parental psychopathology symptoms when examining infant susceptibility to environmental contexts.

Authors

• Ashley Nicole Quigley, Western Kentucky University
  Presenting Author

• Diane Lickenbrock, Western Kentucky University
  Non-Presenting Author