Mother and Infant Interaction

This is a study of differences in physical contact and tactile interpersonal behaviours between Hispanic and Anglo mothers and infants living in the United States. Infants were 9 months old and 52 mother-infant dyads, 26 Hispanic and 26 Anglo, were videotaped during free play without toys in a university laboratory playroom. Coders judged the interpersonal distance, physical contact and affectionate touch from the videotapes and mothers responded to a questionnaire about the importance of physical contact and affectionate ...

The aim of this study was to find out the extent to which the bonding of mother and newborn effects incidence of postpartum mood disorders and formation of mother´s feelings to the child. The three-phase longitudinal research was carried out from February to December 2015, and studied yet not reviewed effect of the quality of bonding and it´s particular course on psychological experiencing of mothers, whether it concerns the feelings for the newborn or the intensity of depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. The sample consisted of 37 women planning the delivery in Brno and surroundings. We used methods EDPS, PDPI, PBQ, TBQ and MIBS, created for postpartum period. Results: Using linear regression analysis, we found that the quality and the length of bonding following immediately after the delivery significantly reduces the incidence and severity of depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. We also confirmed an effect the quality of the bonding has on intensity of emerging maternal bond to the child and negative effect for the possible mother-infant bonding disorders. The main finding of this study is that immediate and good quality contact with newborn influences the emotional and physical level in a protective way and benefits not only the recovery from childbirth, but also psychological changes associated with entrance into the motherhood. Impact of good quality bonding may provide healthier entry into the motherhood and improved feeling of the relationship to the newborn in women who are in a difficult life situation and are within the risks of developing postpartum mood disorders.

When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous world. Far from being a tabula rasa, a Beng infant is thought to begin its life filled with spiritual knowledge. But how do these beliefs affect the ways the Beng raise their children?
In this unique and engaging ethnography of babies, Alma Gottlieb explores how Beng religious ideology affects every aspect of their childrearing practices, from bathing infants to protecting them from disease to teaching them how to crawl and walk. She shows too how widespread poverty among the Beng sets practical limits on these practices. A mother of two, Gottlieb includes moving discussions of how her experiences among the Beng changed the way she saw her own parenting. Throughout the book she also draws telling comparisons between Beng and Euro-American parenting, bringing home just how deeply culture matters to the ways we all raise our children.
Anyone interested in the culture of infancy, and vice versa, will enjoy The Afterlife Is Where We Come From.

En este artículo se presentan resultados preliminares de un estu- dio evolutivo longitudinal de caso único centrado en dos tipos de organizaciones emergentes de los juegos sociales tempranos: las protoconversaciones -concepto introducido en los años  ́70 en el marco de los estudios de comunicación preverbal- y las performan- ces multimedia -concepto aparecido recientemente en el seno de las Ciencias Cognitivas de Segunda Generación-. La díada madre- bebé fue observada en su contexto ecológico entre los 3 y los 7 meses de vida del bebé. Las filmaciones de las interacciones fueron analizadas con una codificación creada especialmente para este estudio a través del método comparativo constante. En el presente artículo se aportan datos preliminares de dicho estudio longitudinal (análisis de las sesiones primera a cuarta, de un total de 9 sesiones) acerca de: (i) la cantidad y tipo de las organizaciones emergentes observadas; (ii) su duración; (iii) tipo de actividad de crianza en que fueron observadas.

"This study wants to contribute to a better understanding of child development by considering the broader cultural context in which it is embedded in. It takes a socio-cultural approach and considers child care practices as adaptive to the specific requirements of a given cultural context. Particularly, it is interested in investigating discursive practices in early mother-infant interactions in diverse cultural settings and relating them to prevalent cultural models of child care. A survey of research literature suggests that infant-directed communication varies greatly across cultures. It is suggested that protoconversation as described in the literature might be a cultural manifestation of an underlying innate parenting system prevalent in Western white middle-class context and that there might be other phenotypical forms of protoconversation in non-Western agrarian societies. Moreover, the study takes a practice approach to language and is interested in investigating how the construction of specific versions of the social world is achieved in the process of the ongoing interactions, particularly with regard to the dimensions autonomy and interpersonal relatedness.
The study therefore examines mother-infant interactions from two cultural contexts previously described as prototypically independent (German white middle class families in the city of Muenster) and interdependent (farming Nso families in the Western Grassfields of Cameroon). The data corpus originates from an earlier longitudinal study and consists of video material and transcriptions of 20 Nso and 20 Muenster mother-infant dyads at the infant’s age of 12 weeks.
The data are analyzed following the principles of qualitative social research using strategies from discourse analysis, conversation analysis and documentary method. Different patterns of co-constructing mother-infant interactions were found and are discussed in chapters 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. Chapter 4.1 presents findings of a pattern of co-operative vs. hierarchical discourse; chapter 4.2 discusses findings of narrative-biographical vs. rhythmic-synchronous structuring; and chapter 4.3 surveys examples of individual-centered vs. socially oriented discursive strategies. The results point to the possibility of innate characteristics of protoconversation as well as culture-specific manifestations of their phenotype. The results are discussed with regard to the specificities of the relevant local socio-cultural contexts and possible implications for the development of culture-specific world views and self-construals.
The thesis concludes by arguing that infants’ ‘narrative envelope’ is a powerful medium to transmit cultural knowledge, even in interactions with pre-verbal infants. Maternal discursive practices are both constituted by culture and constitute culture.
Finally, some of the main implications of the study’s findings for theory and practice are discussed. It is suggested that what is healthy and pathological development needs to be (re-)defined for each specific cultural context. Curricula for training pediatricians, psychologists, teachers and other social workers accordingly need to take a socio- or eco-cultural approach in order to ensure culture-sensitive counseling and teaching. Further studies from socio-cultural contexts that have so far been neglected in academic research are needed that systematically relate infant-care practices with cultural models of child care. The study of discursive practices is suggested to be a particularly promising avenue to this line of research."

There is strong evidence that neonates imitate previously unseen behaviors. These behaviors are predominantly used in social interactions, demonstrating neonates’ ability and motivation to engage with others. Research on neonatal imitation can provide a wealth of information about the early mirror neuron system (MNS): namely, its functional characteristics, its plasticity from birth, and its relation to skills later in development. Though numerous studies document the existence of neonatal imitation in the laboratory, little is known about its natural occurrence during parent-infant interactions and its plasticity as a consequence of experience. We review these critical aspects of imitation, which we argue are necessary for understanding the early action-perception system. We address common criticisms and misunderstandings about neonatal imitation and discuss methodological differences among studies. Recent work reveals that individual differences in neonatal imitation positively correlate with later social, cognitive, and motor development. We propose that such variation in neonatal imitation could reflect important individual differences of the MNS. Although postnatal experience is not necessary for imitation, we present evidence that neonatal imitation is influenced by experience in the first week of life.

Touch is one of the first senses to develop and one of the earliest modalities for infant-caregiver communication. While studies have explored the benefits of infant touch in terms of physical health and growth, the effects of social touch on infant behavior are relatively unexplored. Here, we investigated the influence of neonatal handling on a variety of domains, including memory, novelty seeking, and social interest, in infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta; n = 48) from 2 to 12 weeks of age. Neonates were randomly assigned to receive extra holding, with or without accompanying face-to-face interactions. Extra-handled infants, compared to standard-reared infants, exhibited less stress-related behavior and more locomotion around a novel environment, faster approach of novel objects, better working memory, and less fear towards a novel social partner. In sum, infants who received more tactile stimulation in the neonatal period subsequently demonstrated more advanced motor, social, and cognitive skills-particularly in contexts involving exploration of novelty-in the first three months of life. These data suggest that social touch may support behavioral development, offering promising possibilities for designing future early interventions, particularly for infants who are at heightened risk for social disorders.

The author considers the biological basis of the arts in human evolution, which she holds to be grounded in ethology and interpersonal neurobi-ology. In the arts, she argues, ordinary reality becomes extraordinary by attention-getting, emotionally salient devices that also appear in ritualized animal behaviors, many kinds of play, and the playful interactions of human mothers with their infants. She hypothesizes that these interactions evolved in humans as a behavioral adaptation to a reduced gestation period, promoting emotional bonding between human mothers and their especially helpless infants. She notes that the secretion of opioids, including oxytocin, that accompany birth, lactation, and care giving in all mammals is amplified in human mothers by these devices, producing feelings of intimacy and trust that engender better child care. The same devices, exapted and acquired culturally as arts, she argues, became prominent features of group ritual ceremonies that reduced anxiety and unified participants, which also offered evolutionary advantages.

Play during early life is a ubiquitous activity, and an individual's propensity for play is positively related to cognitive development and emotional well-being. Play behavior (which may be solitary or shared with a social partner) is diverse and multi-faceted. A challenge for current research is to converge on a common definition and measurement system for play – whether examined at a behavioral, cognitive or neurological level. Combining these different approaches in a multimodal analysis could yield significant advances in understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms of play, and provide the basis for developing biologically grounded play models. However, there is currently no integrated framework for conducting a multimodal analysis of play that spans brain, cognition and behavior. The proposed coding framework uses grounded and observable behaviors along three dimensions (sensorimotor, cognitive and socio-emotional), to compute inferences about playful behavior in a social context, and related social interactional states. Here, we illustrate the sensitivity and utility of the proposed coding framework using two contrasting dyadic corpora (N = 5) of mother-infant object-oriented interactions during experimental conditions that were either non-conducive (Condition 1) or conducive (Condition 2) to the emergence of playful behavior. We find that the framework accurately identifies the modal form of social interaction as being either non-playful (Condition 1) or playful (Condition 2), and further provides useful insights about differences in the quality of social interaction and temporal synchronicity within the dyad. It is intended that this fine-grained coding of play behavior will be easily assimilated with, and inform, future analysis of neural data that is also collected during adult–infant play. In conclusion, here, we present a novel framework for analyzing the continuous time-evolution of adult–infant play patterns, underpinned by biologically informed state coding along sensorimotor, cognitive and socio-emotional dimensions. We expect that the proposed framework will have wide utility amongst researchers wishing to employ an integrated, multimodal approach to the study of play, and lead toward a greater understanding of the neuroscientific basis of play. It may also yield insights into a new biologically grounded taxonomy of play interactions.

This book has the hard task to cover an interdisciplinary area in which psychoanalysis has to deal with infant research. The development of infant research methodologies is illustrated in the present book by the contribution written by Beatrice Beebe, whose ‘journey’ leads us through the ‘creating’ of a discipline with its creators, her traveling companions, such as Daniel Stern, Frank Lachmann, Joseph Jaffe and many others. Trevarthen’s chapter is a discussion of his work with T. Berry Brazelton, passed away on March 2018. Brazelton used his trust and enjoyment of innocent company to greet a newborn infant as a friend, and he showed that the baby is read to share friendship with mother and father, giving them joy. Brazelton’s belief in innate human nature transformed pediatric care and early diagnosis of developmental disorders, guiding treatment, not ‘of’ the baby, but ‘with’ him/her as an individual with unique expressions of vitality. The last two chapters, instead, deal with clinical implications of infant research. Tronick’s contribution focuses on mother-infant dyad as well as on analyst-patient one, conceived as open dynamic systems, capable of meaning making, in which coherence is at best imperfect, and coordination alternates with mismatching. In open dynamic systems messiness itself is inherent to the process of meaning making because of limitations in their capacity, «their different time scales, the many polymorphs of meaning that have to be integrated, and because of the many kinds of meaning making processes» (including affective, cognitive, memorial, linguistic, bodily and psychodynamic meaning making processes, such as a dynamic unconscious, projective identification and transference). «Dyadic states of consciousness» Tronick writes in the chapter «are joint creations and, as such, bring together the messy, unpredictable and inchoate features of two individuals’ state of consciousness, not just the messiness of one». But meaning meaning processes and security making ones, though normally overlapping each other, are not the same, and this heterogeneity between motivational systems (Lichtenberg et al., 2011) can cover the heterogeneity of psychopathological conditions. Lyons-Ruth and colleagues’
chapter is focused on the representational world of the mother, particularly on the assessment of mother’s representation of role-confusion in her relation with her child. The authors call attention to the dimension of sexualisation in the relationship, a high indicator of role-confusion. This emerging body of work points to the importance of being alert to indicators of role-confusion in the clinical setting. The findings can inform and enrich counselling and psychology practice by familiarizing clinicians with how to listen for indicators of role-confusion while talking with parents about their relationship with the child.

The present study examined early social game routines during natural face-to-face mother–infant interactions and their relationship with oxytocin. Forty-three mother–infant dyads were observed, when infants were 4 months old, during a procedure involving a baseline and a natural interaction, where mothers were instructed to interact with their infants as they would at home. During this procedure four saliva samples from mothers and infants were collected to determine levels of oxytocin at different time points. Social game routines and infant social engagement (gaze, positive, and negative affect) were coded during the natural interaction. Social games were observed in 76.7% of the mother–infant dyads, and 46 different types of games were identified. Mothers initiated games to re-engage infants significantly more often than when infants were already engaged with them. During the games, infants showed more positive affect and less negative affect in comparison to the rest of the interaction. Finally, maternal increase in oxytocin from before to after the natural interaction was positively correlated with game rate and time spent in games, while infant increase in oxytocin from before to after the natural interaction was inversely related to game rate. These results indicate that social games are an inherent part of early mother–infant interactions, and their occurrence is associated with oxytocin of both infants and mothers.

Abstract—Social learning takes place within an interactional loop. The contributions of this Special Issue exemplify approaches capturing the microdynamics of interaction to provide us with insights into the adaptation and learning processes.

Der folgende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, inwiefern sich kultur-historisch evolvierte diskursive Praktiken in Mutter-Säugling-Interaktionen niederschlagen. Insbesondere werden Interaktionen aus einer noch relativ oralen Kultur (Kamerunische Nso Bauern) mit denen einer literaten westlichen Mittelschicht (Familien in Münster) verglichen. Ausgehend von einem dialogischen Verständnis von Sprache, Kultur und menschlichem Bewusstsein einerseits wird im Hinblick auf menschliche Ontogenese argumentiert, dass Kinder in unterschiedlichen sozio-kulturellen Kontexten jeweils unterschiedliche Subjektivitäten entwickeln, die systematisch mit den jeweiligen sozio-historischen Bedingungen verflochten sind.

Touch is one of the first senses to develop and one of the earliest modalities for infant-caregiver communication. While studies have explored the benefits of infant touch in terms of physical health and growth, the effects of social touch on infant behavior are relatively unexplored. Here, we investigated the influence of neonatal handling on a variety of domains, including memory, novelty seeking, and social interest, in infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta; n=48) from 2 to 12 weeks of age. Neonates were randomly assigned to receive extra holding, with or without accompanying face-to-face interactions. Extra-handled infants, compared to standard-reared infants, exhibited less stress-related behavior and more locomotion around a novel environment, faster approach of novel objects, better working memory, and less fear towards a novel social partner. In sum, infants who received more tactile stimulation in the neonatal period subsequently demonstrated more advanced motor, social, and cogni...

In English-speaking western cultures the punitive attitudes towards law-breakers is well documented. The present study examines the utility of predictors of punitive attitudes with online survey data obtained from a convenience sample of 566 Australian residents. After controlling for demographic variables, the study examines the utility of two theoretical models; the Crime–distrust model and the Racial–animus model, in predicting punitive attitudes. All three factors of the Crime–distrust model significantly predict punitive attitudes. The study extends the current literature through identifying the significance of negative perceptions of Indigenous Australians in predicting punitive attitudes to sentencing. Results suggest that community perception of Indigenous Australians is a significant predictor of punitive attitudes in addition to factors of the Crime–distrust model. Future research using a more representative sample of the Australian population is recommended to increase th...

This study used a transactional model of development (Sameroff, 1975) to test whether meth- adone exposure, mother’s expectation of her future infant’s degree of bother during pregnancy, infant attachment behaviors assessed at 12 months, and mother and child communication assessed at 24 months reciprocally influence each other in a sample of 30 full-term, African American toddlers exposed in utero to methadone and 42 comparison toddlers. Toddlers were videotaped at 24 months communicating with their mothers in eight scripted situations and at 12 months participating in a separation – reunion procedure to assess attachment behaviors. Mothers in both groups were comparable on race, education, age, SES, parity, IQ, and marital status. The relation between methadone exposure and the quality of mother com- munication was found to be moderated by mother’s expectation of her future infant’s degree of bother and mediated by avoidant attachment behavior. Infants’ disorganized attachment behavior predicted their own lower quality communication at 24 months regardless of methadone exposure. The organization of affect regulation in both members of the dyad can differentially affect the ways in which methadone exposure impacts on the quality of mother communication by 24 months. Results suggest that preventive intervention is most likely to succeed when both mothers and children participate.

In English-speaking western cultures the punitive attitudes towards lawbreakers is well documented. The present study examines the utility of predictors of punitive attitudes with online survey data obtained from a convenience sample of 566 Australian residents. After controlling for demographic variables, the study examines the utility of two theoretical models; the Crime– distrust model and the Racial–animus model, in predicting punitive attitudes. All three factors of the Crime–distrust model significantly predict punitive attitudes. The study extends the current literature through identifying the significance of negative perceptions of Indigenous Australians in predicting punitive attitudes to sentencing. Results suggest that community perception of Indigenous Australians is a significant predictor of punitive attitudes in addition to factors of the Crime–distrust model. Future research using a more representative sample of the Australian population is recommended to increase the confidence with which findings are interpreted.

This paper describes interventions focused on changing the mother-infant attachment, which are designed for high-risk groups of mothers. Programs such as Watch, Wait and Wonder, Video Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting, Healthy
Families Alaska, and Mothers and Toddlers are covered, as well as their effectiveness in changing and improving the mental health and attachment of mothers and their babies.

Recent researches have underlined that maternal psychopathology can be considered as a crucial risk factor for the development and maintaining of several emotional behavioural problems in children. While several researches have dealt prominently with maternal psychopathological risk and with their outcomes on NOFTT, limited attention has been given in literature to fathers’ involvement in caregiving and to their psychological profiles, while this issue may represent a significant risk and/or protective factor. The present longitudinal study is aimed to further elaborate on the impact of the maternal psychological functioning on the adaptation of the child between the first and second childhood, focusing also on the paternal involvement in caregiving

Recent researches have underlined that maternal psychopathology can be considered as a crucial risk factor for the development and maintaining of several emotional behavioural problems in children. While several researches have dealt prominently with maternal psychopathological risk and with their outcomes on NOFTT, limited attention has been given in literature to fathers’ involvement in caregiving and to their psychological profiles, while this issue may represent a significant risk and/or protective factor. The present longitudinal study is aimed to further elaborate on the impact of the maternal psychological functioning on the adaptation of the child between the first and second childhood, focusing also on the paternal involvement in caregiving.

This study examines how singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie and her pre-lingual infant son, Cody, engage with each other in the sequential turn-taking process of conversation on a 1978 episode of Sesame Street. A multimodal analysis demonstrates that Cody relies on the audible prosodic contours of his mother's questions to provide responses by producing cries and relevant embodied behavior at ''transition relevance places'' (Sacks et al., 1974). Buffy treats her son's responses to her questions as consequential parts of the interaction, and this in turn supports her son's language socialization. This study contributes to understanding how communication before language can occur through a reliance on prosody and via cries and relevant embodied behavior, and how turn-taking and sequencing can also be scaffolded through prosody and singing, which are ultimately conducive to language socialization.

Interaction between adults and infants by nature constitutes a strong power-asymmetry relationship. Based on the assumption that communicative practices with infants are inseparably intertwined with broader cultural ideologies of good child care, this paper will contrast how parents in two distinct socio-cultural communities deal with power- asymmetry in interactions with 3-months old infants. The study consists of a micro- analysis of videotaped free play mother-infant interactions from 20 middle class families in Muenster, Germany and 20 traditional farming Nso families in Kikaikelaki, Cameroon. Analysis followed a discursive psychology approach. The focus of analysis is on how mothers handle and negotiate power-distance in these interactions and what discursive strategies they draw on.
Mothers in both groups used various forms of directives and control strategies. The Muenster mothers, however, mainly used mitigated directives that can be seen as strategies to reduce the competence gap between mother and child, while the Nso mothers mainly used upgraded directives to stress the hierarchical discrepancy between mother and child.
The different strategies are discussed in light of the prevailing broader cultural ideologies and the normative orientations that they reflect. Finally, the findings are discussed with regard to possible developmental consequences of these distinct cultural practices for the child.

A theoretical background concerning interactional purposes of music education is described in this ar ticle. It serves as a basis for a PhD-action study (40) ca lled the Belly-Button Chord, carried on Grounded Theory out (14). The theoretical basis was providing a framewo rk for music education even from the prenatal stage an d increasing understanding according the role of musi c education as a support for interaction. Many prior studies have focused on the power of the voice, even prenatally. In this study, music educat ion was considered as a holistic event. It was assumed versatile musical experiences would have an impact to the mother and the fetus. The learning comprehensio n was constructivist (e.g. 15; 43; 62; 90; 94). The f etus' / infant's development was explored based on the ethological theory (35). A profound learning proces s was observed as a sum of the sense, the emotions an d the body working together (17). Goals to musical ac tions were set. Learning begins prenatally (11). Music education ha s holistic and musical, developmental effects. Emotio ns are important and mutual in music (37), for a mothe r and a child. Music education can be used as support for communicational skills. Music can be understood as communication: communication contains musical qualities

The speech of mothers and their 1-year-old infants was compared in the home and in the laboratory playroom. The home and laboratory settings were similar for measuring the number of actual words that infants spoke and were similar for measuring the complexity of the mother's speech, including the number of different words, the type-token ratio, and the length of the utterances. Infants vocalized at similar rates in the two settings, but mothers spoke at a faster rate in the laboratory playroom. The usefulness of a preliminary warm-up period was supported by the finding that for the second half of the sessions, mothers slowed their rate of speech and increased the complexity of their speech.

RIASSUNTO: Obiettivo: Il presente lavoro ha l’obiettivo di studiare la qualità delle interazioni genitorebambino durante l’alimentazione a 24 mesi d’età, prendendo in considerazione la possibile influenza del rischio psicopatologico genitoriale e del coinvolgimento materno e paterno, valutato in termini di tempo, dedicato all’accudimento del bambino. Metodo: Ad un campione costituito da N=50 famiglie non referred, è stata applicata la Scala di Valutazione dell’Interazione Alimentare (SVIA), separatamente per la diade madrebambino e padre-bambino; inoltre, entrambi i genitori hanno compilato la SCL-90-R e una scheda anamnestica in cui hanno indicato le ore settimanali di impegno nella cura del figlio. Risultati: I risultati mostrano che la qualità delle interazioni alimentari madre-bambino differisce da quella padre-bambino. In particolare, le interazioni madre-bambino evidenziano punteggi significativamente meno disadattivi rispetto alle interazioni padre-bambino nelle quattro sotto...

RIASSUNTO: Obiettivo: Il presente lavoro ha l’obiettivo di studiare la qualità delle interazioni genitorebambino durante l’alimentazione a 24 mesi d’età, prendendo in considerazione la possibile influenza del rischio psicopatologico genitoriale e del coinvolgimento materno e paterno, valutato in termini di tempo, dedicato all’accudimento del bambino. Metodo: Ad un campione costituito da N=50 famiglie non referred, è stata applicata la Scala di Valutazione dell’Interazione Alimentare (SVIA), separatamente per la diade madrebambino e padre-bambino; inoltre, entrambi i genitori hanno compilato la SCL-90-R e una scheda anamnestica in cui hanno indicato le ore settimanali di impegno nella cura del figlio. Risultati: I risultati mostrano che la qualità delle interazioni alimentari madre-bambino differisce da quella padre-bambino. In particolare, le interazioni madre-bambino evidenziano punteggi significativamente meno disadattivi rispetto alle interazioni padre-bambino nelle quattro sottoscale della SVIA. Inoltre, sintomi materni di ansia fobica e di ideazione paranoide predicono un’interazione alimentare non contingente con il figlio, mentre sintomi paterni di somatizzazione predicono un’interazione caratterizzata da scambi conflittuali. Non sono emerse associazioni tra il coinvolgimento genitoriale (in termini di tempo dedicato all’accudimento) e la qualità delle interazioni alimentari con il proprio figlio. Conclusioni: i risultati mostrano che le madri e i padri hanno specifiche modalità di interazione con i loro figli durante l’alimentazione, che sembrano collegarsi alle caratteristiche del profilo di rischio psicopatologico individuale di entrambi i genitori.