Testing the unique consequences of maternal sensitivity in distress versus non-distress contexts on children's behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Sensitive caregiving is characterized by timely, appropriate, and consistent parent responses to infant cues (Ainsworth et al. 1978). Decades of research has documented the enduring influences of early maternal sensitivity on children’s development, including their later cognitive, behavioral and emotional problems (Cassidy, 2016). Contemporary perspectives emphasize that maternal sensitivity in response to infant distress may be especially influential for shaping children’s socioemotional development (Leerkes, 2012; Thompson, 1997). Indeed, maternal sensitivity during tasks that elicit infant distress uniquely predict infant attachment security (Leerkes, Blankson, & O’Brien, 2009; Leerkes, 2010; Leerkes, Weave, & O’Brien, 2012; Leerkes & Zhao, 2018; McElwain & Booth-LaForce, 2006).
Emerging research focused on other child development outcomes suggest that maternal sensitivity in response to infants’ distress cues may uniquely predict low levels of behavioral problems and high levels of social competence in young children (Leerkes, 2009; Wright et al., 2018; Zhou, Cao, & Leerkes, 2017). Conversely, maternal responses during non-distress activities has been found to uniquely predict infants’ cognitive skills, including attention span and symbolic play (Bornstein & Tamis-Lemonda, 1997). Altogether, these preliminary findings highlight the need for additional, longitudinal research examining the potentially unique consequences of maternal sensitivity during distressing versus non-distressing situations.
The current study includes 118 mother-child dyads who were recruited to be involved with an ongoing longitudinal study and completed a research visit when the child was 18 months old. Observations of maternal behavior during the Still Face Paradigm were collected when infants were 7-months old. Observations of mothers’ behavior during the initial 2-minute play episode and the two, 2-minute reunion episodes were coded using the nine 3-point scales from the Global Ratings of Mother Infant Interaction at 7 months (Fiori-Cowley et al., 1999). Based on the results of exploratory factor analyses for this sample, composite measures of maternal sensitivity during play episode (i.e., “non-distress”) and reunion episodes (i.e., “distress”) of the Still Face Paradigm were created. One year later when children were age 18 months, mothers reported on their toddlers’ externalizing behavioral problems, internalizing problems, and levels of dysregulation using the Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (Briggs-Gowan et al., 1998). Toddlers’ cognitive development was also assessed at 18-months using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III; Bayley, 2006).
Maternal sensitivity to distress and non-distress were not significantly associated with toddlers’ cognitive development or their overall externalizing or internalizing behavior problems. High levels of maternal sensitivity to distress did uniquely predict low levels of dysregulation (see Table 1). In addition, analyses focused on the subscales revealed that high levels of maternal sensitivity to distress uniquely predicted low levels of depressive symptoms, fearful behavior, separation anxiety, and defiant behaviors (see Table 2). These associations were robust to controlling for infant biological sex, infant race/ethnicity, maternal education, and family income. Altogether, these findings offer support for the hypothesis that sensitivity to infants’ distress has a unique significance on the development of emotional and behavioral problems early in life.

Authors

• Jennifer Lauren Isenhour, University of Utah
  Presenting Author

• Sheila E Crowell, University of Utah
  Non-Presenting Author

• Liz Conradt, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mindy A. Brown, Brigham Young University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lee Raby, University of Utah
  Non-Presenting Author