Behavioral Observations of Mother, Child, and Dyadic Dysregulation from Infancy through Toddlerhood

• In Event: Measurement and consequences of childhood self regulation and self control

Abstract

Research over the past several decades has implicated self-regulation as one of the most important foundational developmental competencies. The development of self-regulation is largely rooted in caregiver-infant coregulatory processes beginning in the first several years of life. Tronick’s (2007) Mutual Regulation Model conceptualizes infant and caregiver regulation as sub-systems within a larger dyadic regulatory system, in which caregiver-infant transactions influence infant foundational regulatory capacities. Given the salience of these coregulatory interactions, a number of observational coding systems have been developed to capture specific parent and child behaviors thought to reflect adaptive or maladaptive regulatory processes. However, efforts to quantify the construct of regulation itself has proven challenging due to broader definitional issues inherent to the construct (Cole et al., 2004). We present a global observation coding system, the Dysregulation Rating System (DRS), that captures its more accessible counterpart – dysregulation – at mother, child, and dyadic levels. We provide initial validation of this system by examining concurrent and longitudinal associations of its ratings with those obtained from independent micro and macro-observational systems, and describe the developmental course of mother, child, and dyadic dysregulation from infancy through toddlerhood in a sample of low-income Mexican American families.

The present research drew data from a sample of 322 low-income Mexican American families. Video recordings of mother-child interactions were obtained at child ages 12, 18, and 24 weeks and 1, 2, and 3 years during semi-structured mother-child interactions and were later coded by research assistants trained to reliability. Maternal, child, and dyadic dysregulation were assessed using the DRS. Mother and infant/toddler affect, engagement, and behaviors were evaluated using the Mother and Infant Regulatory Rating Scales (MRSS and IRSS; adapted from Tronick & Weinberg, 1994) at child ages 12, 18, and 24 weeks, and using the Coding Interactive Behaviors system (CIB; Feldman, 1998) at child ages 1, 2, and 3 years. Finally, dyadic synchrony was evaluated at all timepoints using the CIB system. Descriptives and correlations were used to describe levels and stability of mother, child, and dyadic dysregulation from infancy through toddlerhood. Concurrent and longitudinal correlations of mother, child, and dyadic dysregulation with ratings of mother and child affect, behaviors, and dyadic synchrony were used to evaluate the concurrent validity of the DRS with other well-established rating systems (i.e., IRSS, MRSS, CIB).

Results yielded preliminary support for the Dysregulation Rating System, with mother and child dysregulation correlating with higher ratings of negative affect, decreased child behavioral compliance, poorer quality parenting behaviors, and lower dyadic synchrony. Additionally, results suggest that levels of mother, child, and dyadic dyregulation are low overall from infancy to toddlerhood, but show stability over time, particularly among mothers. Challenges and future considerations when using this observational coding system will be discussed.

Authors

• Betty Lin, State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany)
  Presenting Author

• Laura K. Winstone-Weide, University of Texas at Austin

• Keith A Crnic, Arizona State University

• Nancy A Gonzales, Arizona State University

• Linda J. Luecken, Arizona State University