Maternal Responsiveness, Family Socioeconomic Risk, and Infant Mother-Oriented Regulation Behaviors

• In Event: Early childhood adversity

Abstract

Economic hardship is one of the most consistent predictors of adverse child outcomes and children exposed to more socioeconomic risks are more vulnerable to behavioral health challenges. Supportive caregiving relationships have potential to buffer children from socioeconomic risk, particularly in infancy when children are dependent upon their caregivers to respond to their cues for support and protection. Yet few studies have examined this buffering hypothesis as it relates to the emergence of infant self-regulation strategies. Mother-oriented infant self-regulation behaviors, including seeking proximity to the mother and utilizing the mother to self-soothe when experiencing distress, may be particularly influenced by caregiving in the context of socioeconomic risk. We draw upon a longitudinal observational study of families living in poverty to examine if maternal responsiveness is associated with infant mother-oriented regulation behaviors in the first year of life.

295 mother-infant dyads participated in this study. Mothers were recruited form Women, Infants and Children clinics in the prenatal period, and assessments occurred prenatally and at 6 and 12 months postpartum. Mothers were racially and ethnically diverse (40% Hispanic; 42% White, 19% Black, 7% biracial, 32% other races). All families were living in poverty. 60% of mothers had less than or equal to a high school diploma, 65% were unemployed in pregnancy, and 44% were single parents. 53% of infants were female.

A composite variable including maternal education, maternal unemployment status, and single parenthood was derived from a demographic questionnaire to capture family socioeconomic risk. At 12 months postpartum, mother-infant dyads were observed during a 7-minute free play interaction and a 4-minute challenge task designed to elicit infant frustration (attractive toy in a locked box). Videotapes of the free play and frustration tasks were coded to assess maternal responsiveness to the infant’s cues using the Parent Caregiver Involvement Scales (Farran et al., 1986). Videotapes of the frustration task were coded for the infant’s use of mother-oriented regulation behaviors including mother-oriented self-soothing behaviors (e.g. sucking the mother’s fingers, holding or rubbing the mother’s hand) and seeking physical proximity to the mother.

Socioeconomic risk and maternal responsiveness during the frustration task, but not free play task, were each associated with mother-oriented self-soothing behaviors (r = -.14 and r = .17, respectively, both p < .05). However, when socioeconomic risk and maternal responsiveness were tested in a single model, only maternal responsiveness remained a significant predictor of self-soothing (B = .14, p < .05). In contrast, in models predicting maternal proximity seeking, maternal responsiveness during the free play task, but not frustration task, moderated the association of socioeconomic risk and proximity seeking (B = .13, p < .05). As illustrated in Figure 1, socioeconomic risk was negatively associated with maternal proximity seeking only when maternal responsiveness was low.

Findings suggest that maternal responsiveness is a protective factor for infant emotion regulation, particularly mother-oriented regulation strategies. Interventions to promote maternal responsiveness among families living in poverty have the potential to enhance infant emotional development. Additional applied and methodological implications will be discussed.

Authors

• Shawn Eric Parra, Bradley Hospital
  Presenting Author

• Lindsay Huffhines, Brown University Medical School

• Ronald Seifer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Stephanie H Parade, Brown University