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Development of Interactional Synchrony: Examining the Role of Maternal Emotion Dysregulation

Jessica T Kelly1, Ellen A Knowles1, Jessy L Thomas1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of South Dakota, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA.

Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 27, 2026
PubMed

Infancy is a period of rapid development, with interactional synchrony between mother and infant being one of the earliest bonding experiences. However, little research has characterized developmental shifts in mother-infant interactional synchrony. Maternal emotion dysregulation may influence interactional synchrony, yet little research has evaluated the impact of maternal emotion dysregulation on synchrony over time. This project aims to (1) evaluate changes in mother-infant interactional synchrony over time, (2) assess the relationship between maternal emotion dysregulation and mother-infant interactional synchrony, and (3) evaluate the impact of maternal emotion dysregulation on interactional synchrony over time. Participants were 90 mother-infant dyads who had a vaginal delivery. Mothers reported on their functioning and behavioral observation data were collected at two time points (4 and 6 months after birth) and coded for markers of synchrony, including physical proximity, visual orientation, upper-body orientation, and dyadic involvement. Overall synchrony, upper-body orientation, and dyadic involvement increased from 4 to 6 months. Maternal emotion dysregulation at 4 months did not predict any markers of synchrony at 4 months, nor did it predict any markers of synchrony over time (6 months). These findings offer insights into early developmental changes in synchrony and suggest that these synchrony markers may be robust to variations in maternal emotional regulation.

Keywords:
interactional synchronymaternal emotional dysregulationmother–infant dyads

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