How Still? Parent-Infant Interaction During the Still-Face and Later Infant Attachment

In the still-face episode of the Face-to-Face/Still-Face (FFSF), parents are asked to become unresponsive. However, infant-parent interaction may be irrepressible, and there is some evidence that interaction during the still-face is associated with attachment outcome. To explore these questions, we independently coded the continuous affective valence of parents and 6-month-old infants (negative to positive) during the FFSF (N=73) and assessed attachment at 15 months with the Strange Situation Procedure (n=66). There was a mean positive correlation between moment-to-moment parent and infant affective valence, indicating synchronous affective interaction during the still-face. Higher levels of affect interaction during the still-face episode were detected in infants later classified as disorganized compared to securely attached. Findings underscore the importance of testing for still-face interaction and suggest that this interaction may be an unappreciated predictor of infant attachment outcomes.