Maternal and infant behavior and context associations with mutual emotion availability
Marc H Bornstein1, Chun-Shin Hahn1, Joan T D Suwalsky1
1Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Infant Mental Health Journal
|May 26, 2017
Summary
This study explored factors influencing emotional availability (EA) in mothers and infants. Key maternal and infant behaviors uniquely predict EA dimensions, highlighting specific pathways for enhancing parent-infant relationships.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Infant Mental Health
- Parent-Child Interaction
Background:
- Emotional availability (EA) is crucial for socioemotional adaptation in parent-infant relationships.
- Understanding factors influencing EA is key to supporting healthy dyadic development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine associations between maternal/infant behaviors and context indicators with maternal sensitivity and infant responsiveness.
- To identify unique predictors of EA dimensions in the mother-infant dyad.
Main Methods:
- 369 European American mothers and their 5.5-month-old infants participated.
- Zero-order and robust regression analyses were used to assess associations.
- Maternal sensitivity and infant responsiveness were examined as distinct EA dimensions.
Main Results:
- Differentiated patterns of unique relations were found for maternal and infant behaviors/context indicators.
- Specific, yet few, prominent relations were identified for maternal sensitivity and infant responsiveness.
- The patterns of association varied between the two EA dimensions.
Conclusions:
- Understanding specific behavioral and contextual indicators is fundamental to enhancing emotional availability.
- Targeted interventions can be developed based on identified predictors of maternal sensitivity and infant responsiveness.
- Adequate EA is foundational for robust parent-infant relationship outcomes.
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