Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
Role of Affect in Interpersonal Attraction01:24

Role of Affect in Interpersonal Attraction

Affect plays a crucial role in shaping interpersonal evaluations and perceptions. Emotions influence how individuals judge and respond to others, often determining whether interactions are viewed positively or negatively. This effect can manifest directly through interactions with the person in question or indirectly via associations with unrelated emotional experiences.Direct Effects of Affect on AttractionAffect directly influences interpersonal attraction when a person’s behavior elicits...
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings01:29

Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings

Other adult family members and siblings play a crucial role in shaping children’s social and emotional development. While parents or primary caregivers are often the central figures in early attachment and socialization, other adults in a child’s life, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, can significantly influence developmental outcomes. These influences depend on each adult’s personality and may help compensate when a primary caregiver is emotionally distant or inconsistent. For...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Association between callous unemotional traits cognitive control performance and reward sensitivity in youths with conduct problems - A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews·2025
Same author

Autonomic regulation and comorbid symptoms in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996)·2024
Same author

Long-term cortisol secretion in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: roles of sex, comorbidity, and symptom presentation.

European child & adolescent psychiatry·2023
Same author

Hair brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as predictor of developing psychopathological symptoms in childhood.

Journal of affective disorders·2022
Same author

Increased hair cortisol in mothers of children with ADHD symptoms and psychosocial adversity background.

Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996)·2022
Same author

Reward-Related Dysfunctions in Children Developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Roles of Oppositional and Callous-Unemotional Symptoms.

Frontiers in psychiatry·2021

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
05:04

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect

Published on: September 22, 2023

Affect expression in mother-infant interaction and subsequent attachment development.

Ursula Pauli-Pott1, Bettina Mertesacker

  • 1Department of Medical Psychology, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany. Ursula.Pauli-Pott@psycho.med.uni-giessen.de

Infant Behavior & Development
|February 24, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Maternal affect expression and control predict infant attachment security. Early positive maternal affect without infant reciprocity, and later low maternal openness, signal insecurity.

More Related Videos

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG
08:20

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG

Published on: May 3, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
05:04

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect

Published on: September 22, 2023

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG
08:20

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG

Published on: May 3, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Infant Attachment
  • Maternal Emotional Expression

Background:

  • Attachment security is crucial for infant development.
  • Maternal emotional regulation and expression influence infant attachment.
  • Previous research shows mixed findings on maternal affect in attachment dyads.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if maternal affect expression and control predict infant attachment security.
  • To analyze the relationship between maternal emotional style and infant attachment outcomes.
  • To identify specific maternal behaviors associated with secure and insecure attachment.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 89 mother-infant dyads.
  • Assessment of maternal and infant affect expression (positive, negative) at 4, 8, and 12 months.
  • Assessment of maternal lack of openness (emotion masking) at 4, 8, and 12 months.
  • Attachment security assessed at 18 months using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure.

Main Results:

  • At 4 months, positive maternal affect with neutral/negative infant affect predicted insecurity.
  • At 12 months, low maternal openness, low negative affect, and synchronous positive affect predicted insecurity.
  • Mothers of insecurely attached infants showed high positive emotion not shared with the infant early on.
  • Later, these mothers exhibited less open communication, masking negative affect and amplifying positive mood.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal affect expression and control are significant predictors of infant attachment security.
  • Specific patterns of maternal emotional communication in the first year are linked to later attachment outcomes.
  • Understanding maternal emotional styles offers insights into the development of secure and insecure infant attachment.