Axel Schölmerich

Mothers' socialisation goals and evaluations of desirable and undesirable everyday situations in two diverse cultural groups.

Long-term socialisation goals and evaluations of infant behaviour in a variety of everyday contexts were studied among 45 mothers who had immigrated from Central America to the United States, and 41 mothers from European American backgrounds. In accord with expectations based on broad cultural constructs, mothers from Central America emphasised long-term socialisation goals related to Proper Demeanour. In addition, when describing and evaluating everyday situations, they were likely to attribute the desirability or undesirability of these situations to the childs own appropriate and cooperative behaviour, and were likely to highlight mutual enjoyment when describing preferred play situations. In contrast, Euro-American mothers emphasised long-term socialisation goals related to Self-Maximisation, and when describing undesirable everyday situations, stressed the role of external factors not under the childs control, presumably to preserve the childs self-esteem. However, it was also found that the Central American mothers endorse selected aspects of individualism related to promoting their childrens economic and personal potential in the United States. These findings point not only to the multidimensional nature of individualism, but also to the heterogeneity of beliefs among Latino populations. The importance of studying within-group variation with regard to the individualism/sociocentrism construct is highlighted.

Communication Patterns in Adult-Infant Interactions in Western and Non-Western Cultures:

The purpose of this study is to analyze the early communication structure in adult-child interactions with 2- to 6-month-old babies in Western (West Germany, Greece)and non-Western (Yanomami, Trobriand) societies. The occurrence of positive and negative infant vocalizations was analyzed during the dyadic states of eye contact and non-eye contact, and the dialogic states of adult talking and nontalking. Adult tactile, vestibular, and verbal responses to infant vocalizations were coded. The results confirm the assumption of universal interactional structures. Positive vocalizations are performed mostly during eye contact; during adult talking, infants do not produce vocalizations; adults respond to positive and negative vocalizations differently; and verbal reactions are found after positive and negative vocalizations, whereas negative vocalizations elicit more bodily behaviors, such as movement and touching. These adult behaviors are interpreted as intuitive parenting programs.

Contexts as Moderators of Observed Interactions: A study of Costa Rican Mothers and Infants from Differing Socioeconomic Backgrounds

Twenty first-born infants from low SES families and 20 first-born infants from middle SES families in Costa Rica were observed for 12 hours when they were 14 weeks old. The goals of this study were to: (1) study the impact of length of observation and context on our measures of interactional engagement; and (2) compare the interactional experiences of the infants in the two groups in various functional (e.g. feeding, object play) and social (e.g. with mother, with mother and others) contexts. Attuned and disharmonious interactions, as well as the frequency of positive affect, soothing, and vocalisation, varied considerably across the functional contexts. In addition, disharmonious interactions increased and interactional engagement decreased when mothers and infants were joined by others. Highly unstable measures of individual differences were obtained when observations were limited to 45-minute blocks, but stability increased considerably as the duration of the observations expanded. The groups did not differ with respect to amounts of time spent in various functional and social contexts, in attuned or disharmonious states, or in high levels of interactional engagement. Within some of the functional contexts, however, significant group differences in levels of attuned interactions, infant vocalisation, and maternal response vocalisation were found. Overall, functional and social contexts clearly moderated interactional experiences. SES effects on verbal and other interactional measures were limited to some contexts and may thus represent the infants’ overall experiences quite poorly. Consequently, comparisons based on a single context may be inadequate for studies of subjects from differing socioeconomic backgrounds.

The influence of low level pre- and perinatal exposure to PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and lead on attention performance and attention-related behavior among German school-aged children: results from the Duisburg Birth Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and lead are thought to be risk factors for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), whereas the prenatal influence of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans (PCDD/Fs) on attention performance has been less studied. OBJECTIVES Within the Duisburg Birth Cohort Study, we investigated low-level exposure to these compounds in relation to childrens attention. METHODS We measured blood levels of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and lead from pregnant mothers (32(nd) week of pregnancy) and PCDD/Fs and PCBs in breast milk (2 weeks after delivery). The attention of school-aged children (N=117) was investigated with a computer-based test battery of attention performance (KITAP) and a parent rating questionnaire of behaviors related to ADHD (FBB-ADHS). Influences of the exposure on attention were analyzed by multiple regression analyses. RESULTS Increasing prenatal PCDD/F and PCB concentrations were significantly (p<0.05) associated with a higher number of omission errors in the subtest Divided Attention (47% and 42%; 95% confidence intervals (95%-CI): 1.08-2.00 and 1.07-1.89, respectively). Prenatal lead concentrations had few significant associations with attention performance (e.g., a 23% higher number of omission errors in the subtest Distractibility; 95%-CI: 1.00-1.51), whereas ADHD-related behavior (questionnaire based) was increased with increasing lead exposure (Overall-ADHD: 9%; 95%-CI: 1.01-1.17). ADHD-related behavior was negatively associated with prenatal PCDD/F or PCB exposures (e.g., for PCB exposure: -10%; 95%-CI: 0.82-0.99). CONCLUSIONS Pre- and perinatal PCDD/F and PCB exposure may have subtle influences on attention performance in healthy children at low environmental levels, while behavior changes are negatively associated. Furthermore, we provide additional evidence for the impact of prenatal lead exposure on attention deficits.

Studying mother-infant interaction: The effects of context and length of observation in two subcultural groups

Abstract In most studies, mother-infant interactional attunement is observed in either one or two contexts or in brief, unstructured sessions at home. We thus do not know whether the observed levels of interactional attunement are influenced by the context, whether context influences the levels of interactional attunement differently in diverse samples, or whether the length of observation influences the stability of the interactional measures. To address these issues, we observed mother-infant interactions over a complete day in two culturally distinct samples. Twenty infants whose parents immigrated from Central America (CA) and 21 infants from middle-class Euro-American (EA) backgrounds were observed for 12 hr when they were 3 months old. We used the Strange Situation procedure when they were 13 months old to validate our measures of interactional attunement and disharmony. These preliminary analyses showed that the attunement scores predicted security of attachment as expected and were thus valid observational measures, whereas the disharmony scores predicted attachment as expected only in the Euro-American sample. There were no group differences in the amount of time spent by the mothers and infants in well-attuned states, or in different functional contexts, but the EA dyads spent more time in disharmonious states. The amounts of time spent in well-attuned and in disharmonious interactions varied substantially across contexts with notable differences between the two groups. Forty-five min blocks of observation yielded highly unstable measures of individual differences but stability increased considerably as the duration of the observations was expanded. The results indicate that apparent subcultural differences in attunement are maximized by focusing on single contexts and minimized by averaging across a variety of naturally occurring contexts.

An alternative approach for the analyses and interpretation of attachment sort items

Attachment Q‐Sort (AQS) is a tool for quantifying observations about toddler/caregiver relationships. Previous studies have applied factor analysis to the full 90 AQS item set to explore the structure underlying them. Here we explore that structure by applying multidimensional scaling (MDS) to judgements of inter‐item similarity. AQS items are arranged in the MDS solution along three easily interpretable axes: a model that is compatible with but more parsimonious than factor analysis solutions. This geometrical approach suggests ways to modify the AQS—primarily a research tool—to make it more practical for clinical applications. Sets of AQS data are represented and interpreted in the three‐dimensional model as vectors. Summaries at a finer‐grained level are obtained by finding points in the model where variability across datasets is greatest. We report re‐analyses of archival (published) data, and also data collected with streamlined procedures more suitable in the field. Although not reported here, collection and analysis can both be performed online via a website. The general methodology is not restricted to the current application of toddler attachment.

Developmental outcome and psychosocial adjustment in children after surgery for congenital heart disease during infancy

The aim of the present study was to explore developmental outcome, psychosocial adjustment and self‐regulation of children who underwent corrective surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) in early infancy and a possible association with type and procedural characteristics of the intervention. Two groups of children with CHD aged 2 to 6 years operated in infancy for ventricular septal defect (n = 19) or as neonates for transposition of the great arteries (n = 25) and a reference group (n = 35) underwent developmental and psychological testing. Vagal tone as an index for emotional self‐regulation capabilities was measured during baseline and challenge conditions. The study shows that children who underwent surgery for CHD in early infancy were at a disadvantage for cognitive, emotional, and motor development compared to the reference group at preschool age. Behavioural outcome and psychosocial adjustment were generally positive in our sample and we conclude that surgical procedures leave no discernable trace in the vagal regulation system. Developmental and behavioural outcome were moderately related to oesophageal temperature and total support time during the surgery, but not uniformly across different areas of development. It seems likely that familial and environmental factors have a mediating influence.

The Ecology of Mother-Infant Interaction in Euro-American and Immigrant Central American Families Living in the United States

In an attempt to explore cultural and subcultural similarities and variations in the patterns of child care, two culturally and economically distinct groups were studied. Twenty-one 3-month-old infants had well-educated Euro-American mothers and another 17 had recently migrated Central American mothers. Observations of parent-infant interaction and behaviour were conducted at home throughout the day to ensure coverage of complete 12-hour cycles. Descriptive analyses revealed remarkable similarities and few differences in the everyday experiences of infants in these two diverse groups. Both groups of mothers spent most of their time playing with, feeding, or caring for their infants. Fathers spent little time with their infants during the day but their presence affected the amount of time spent in various contexts, with significantly less object play occurring when the fathers were present. Mother and infant vocalisations and mutual attention occurred more frequently during social interaction and caretaking than in bouts of feeding. These descriptive profiles expand our basic understanding of infants’ everyday experiences in diverse subcultural groups.

Mother-infant teaching interactions and attachment security in Euro-American and Central-American immigrant families

Abstract Forty mothers who had recently immigrated from Central America and 42 mothers from upper- middle-class Euro-American families were videotaped at home teaching their 4-, 8-, and 12- month-old infants to perform three tasks at each age. Overall, didactic maternal behavior decreased as the infants grew older, whereas task-oriented infant behavior increased with age. Frequency and duration measures of maternal and infant behavior in the teaching sessions were largely unrelated to attachment status, as assessed in the Strange Situation when the infants were 13 months old. When the timing of maternal behavior relative to infant behavior was used as a measure of maternal sensitivity, some of the expected relations were evident, however. Dyads who were later classified as disorganized had negative scores on a measure of joint attention to objects. Resistant dyads were characterized by high levels of coordination of social attention, while disorganized dyads had very low or negative coordination scores. Mutual coordination of maternal teaching was highest in dyads involving securely attached infants.

Influence of Low-Level Prenatal Exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs on Empathizing, Systemizing and Autistic Traits: Results from the Duisburg Birth Cohort Study

Background Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are assumed to act as endocrine disruptor chemicals. Prenatal exposure to these pollutants might influence fetal steroid hormone levels, which are thought to be related to sex-typical development and autistic traits. Objectives We examined associations of prenatal levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs with autism traits and sex-typical behaviour in childhood. Methods We measured levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in maternal blood samples during pregnancy using gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Sex-typical behaviour was assessed at 9 years of age (n = 96) and autistic traits at 10 years of age using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS; n = 100). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to estimate the associations between prenatal exposure and outcome variables. Results Blood concentrations (WHO2005-TEq) of ƩPCDD/Fs ranged from 2.93–46.45 pg/g lipid base (median = 12.91 pg/g lipid base) and concentrations of ƩPCBs were in the range of 1.24–25.47 pg/g lipid base (median = 6.85 pg/g lipid base) which is within the range of German background exposure. We found significant negative associations between PCDD/F levels in maternal blood and SRS scores in the whole group (β = -6.66, p < .05), in girls (β = -10.98, p < .05) and, in one SRS subscale, in boys (β = -6.86, p < .05). For PCB levels, associations with one SRS subscale were significant for the whole study group as were associations with two subscales in girls. We did not find significant associations between PCDD/F or PCB levels and sex-typical behaviour for either sex. Conclusions In an earlier part of this study, prenatal exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs was found to be associated with lower testosterone levels, therefore, our findings are consistent with the idea that autism spectrum conditions are related to fetal androgen levels. Several possible mechanisms, through which PCDD/Fs and PCBs might influence autistic behaviour, are discussed.