Stress in the Parental Role and Mindful Parenting: Contributions to Infant EEG Asymmetry

• In Event: The Multilevel Factors Influencing the Development of Temperament

Abstract

Parenting stress has been consistently shown to impact quality of parent-child interactions. For example, parenting stress can interfere with caregivers’ ability to respond appropriately to children in difficult situations (Belsky, 1984; Robers, 1989). Under stress, parents may become rejecting, controlling, and reactive, expressing less warmth, which can lead to poorer quality parent-child exchanges and relational fit (Belsky, 1984; Crnic et al., 2005).

On the other hand, mindful parenting serves a protective function. Mindful actions in parenting are characterized by intentionality in parent-child interactions, such as careful listening and attention to the child, low reactivity, a non-judgmental attitude, emotional awareness, and compassion (Duncan et al., 2009; Kabat-Zinn & Kabat-Zinn, 1998), linked with fewer child behavior problems (Parent et al., 2016).

Infant temperament was shown to be influenced by maternal mindfulness (van den Heuvel et al., 2015) as well as parenting stress (Gartstein & Hancock, 2019); however, links between these contextual factors and neurophysiological underpinnings of temperament (e.g., frontal alpha asymmetry) remain relatively underexplored. Briefly, left frontal EEG asymmetry is associated with approach/positive affect, and relative right frontal activation with negative affect and withdrawal-related emotions/motivation (Hane et al., 2008). Parenting/parent-child interactions were linked with asymmetry (Swingler et al., 2014), including in the context of the Still Face procedure (Gartstein, 2019). In this study, we examined relations between overall parenting stress, mindfulness in parenting, and links with infant EEG asymmetry measured during Still Face. Mediation was hypothesized, wherein overall parenting stress compromises mindfulness in parenting, which in turn predicts frontal EEG asymmetry, playing a protective role – contributing to greater left frontal activation.

Mothers with infants 6-12 months of age (mean age = 8.44 months, SD = 1.51 months, 34 girls) participated. Caregivers responded to the Parenting Stress Inventory (Abidin, 1995) and Mindful Parenting in Infancy Scale (Iverson & Gartstein, 2017) prior to the laboratory visit (within 2 weeks) conducted to collect EEG data. EEG was recorded in the context of a baseline episode, as well as a two-trial version of the Still Face procedure (Haley & Stansbury, 2003; Tronick et al., 1978), wherein the mother is instructed to ignore the infant for 2 minutes on two separate occasions, interspersed with, then followed by a play episode. Standard procedures were followed in recording and processing EEG data (Bell & Cuevas, 2012). Relations between overall parenting stress (PSI Tot), mindfulness in parenting (Mindful), and EEG asymmetry observed in the context of the 2nd SF episode (SF Asym) were examined, controlling for infant sex, age, and baseline asymmetry (BL Asym).

As hypothesized, the mediational relationship involving overall parental stress, mindfulness in parenting, and SF asymmetry was observed, controlling for infant sex, age, and baseline asymmetry values (Figure 1). This mediational model was associated with good fit based on multiple indices: χ2 = 2.74, p = .43; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .01; Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = .05; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 1.00; Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = 1.00; with statistically significant paths indicative of mediation.

Author

• Maria Amy Gartstein, Washington State University
  Presenting Author