Brenda L. Volling

Baby cries and nurturance affect testosterone in men

Testosterone (T) is generally theorized within a trade-off framework that contrasts parenting and low T with competitive challenges and high T. Paradoxically, baby cues increase T, prompting questions of whether T or its behavioral expression has been mischaracterized. We tested 55 men using a novel interactive infant doll paradigm, and results supported our hypotheses: We showed for the first time that baby cries do decrease T in men, but only when coupled with nurturant responses. In contrast, baby cries uncoupled from nurturant responses increased T. These findings highlight the need to partition infant cues and interactions into nurturant versus competitive-related contexts to more accurately conceptualize T, as per the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds. This experiment also supports the utility of this paradigm for studying effects of infant interactions on hormonal responses, which may provide critical insights into ameliorating the darker sides of caregiving (e.g. anger, frustration, violence) and enhancing the positive sides (e.g. intimacy, nurturance, reward).

Preschool children's interactions with friends and older siblings: Relationship specificity and joint contributions to problem behavior

The primary aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which friend and sibling relationship quality jointly contribute to childrens behavioral adjustment. Preschool-aged children (N = 52) were observed separately with a friend and an older sibling during a free-play session and a sharing task. Mean comparisons indicated that friendship dyads, on average, engaged in more complex social play and more intense conflict (but only during free play), whereas sibling dyads were characterized by greater asymmetry. Few friend-sibling associations emerged. Friend and sibling relationship quality in the sharing task together accounted for a significant portion of variance in parent-reported aggressive-disruptive behavior, and a Sibling x Friend interaction indicated that greater relationship quality with one partner buffered children from poor behavioral adjustment when relationship quality with the other partner was low or moderate. Implications for preventive intervention efforts are discussed.

The relationship between biased maternal and filial attributions and the aggressiveness of their interactions

This study examined the relation between maternal and filial attributions and the aggressiveness of their interactions. We also examined whether or not certain setting conditions (e.g., maternal and child depression, maternal and child negative life events, marital conflict, socioeconomic status) predispose some mothers and children to make negative attributions and interact coercively. One hundred four mothers and sons (age 7-9 years) from married and divorced families participated. They completed questionnaire and interview data and were observed while participating in two gamelike tasks (e.g., Trouble, Etch-a-Sketch). Both maternal and child attributions were significantly related to their coercive interactions. The most aggressive dyads were those in which both mothers and sons perceived hostile intent in the other. The relations between attributions and coercive interactions were found to be moderated by marital conflict, and maternal education, such that the association between attributions and coercive behavior, was stronger when marital conflict was low and the mothers were better educated.

Infant, Father, and Marital Antecedents of Infant Father Attachment Security in Dual-Earner and Single-Earner Families

In contrast to the research examining infant-mother attachment, much less is known about the development of infant-father attachment relationships. Several recent findings suggest that infants in dual-earner families may develop insecure attachments not only to their mothers, but to their fathers as well. The purpose of the present study was to examine characteristics of the father, the infant, and the marital relationship as antecedents of secure/ insecure infant-father attachments in dual-earner and single-earner families as recent reports suggest that different family processes may exist within these two family ecologies. Longitudinal data from 113 fathers and their firstborn infants were collected before the birth of the child, and when infants were 3 and 9 months old, while Strange Situation assessments were conducted when infants were 13 months of age. Results indicated that change in perceived infant temperament, mens recollected child-rearing histories, and the division of labour distinguished families in which secure or insecure infant-father attachments developed. In only one instance, that of marital conflict, does it appear that different antecedent processes underlie the development of infant-father attachment security across the two family contexts. Results suggest that conclusions based upon research on the antecedents of infant-mother attachment security cannot be presumed to apply to the study of infant-father attachment.

Depressive Symptoms During Pregnancy: Impact on Neuroendocrine and Neonatal Outcomes

OBJECTIVE To explore the interplay of maternal depressive symptoms on the infant limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis (LHPA) and neurological development. DESIGN Pregnant women were monitored for depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at 28, 32, and 37 weeks of gestation and at delivery. A mixture growth curve analysis divided the women into three risk groups: low/stable, intermediate, and high/increasing depression based on BDI scores. The infant neuroendocrine system was examined using cord blood for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol measurements. Two-week-old infants were examined using Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). RESULTS Infants born to women of the high/increasing depression group had significant ACTH elevation at birth. On NNNS examination, these infants were more hypotonic and habituated to auditory and visual stimuli. CONCLUSION When compared to non-depressed women, maternal depressive symptoms, even in the absence of major depressive disorder, appeared to facilitate a different developmental pathway for the infant LHPA and early neurological development.

Attachment security and parental sensitivity during infancy: Associations with friendship quality and false-belief understanding at age 4

The current study investigated how attachment security and parental sensitivity during infancy were related to children’s understanding of false belief and friendship quality during the preschool period (N = 30). At age 1, parent–infant attachment was assessed in the Strange Situation, and a 3-point security score based on the attachment subcategories was utilized. Also, at this time point, parental sensitivity was observed during two semi-structured interactive sessions. At age 4, child–friend interaction was observed during two laboratory play sessions, and understanding of false belief was assessed during child interviews. Correlational analyses revealed that greater maternal sensitivity during infancy was related to more positive and less negative child–friend interaction at age 4. Although neither mother–infant nor father–infant attachment security made a unique contribution to friendship quality, a significant interaction indicated that mother–infant attachment security was related to friendship quality, but only when father–infant attachment security was high. Moreover, children who experienced greater attachment security and greater parental sensitivity at age 1 were more likely to pass false belief tasks at age 4. Finally, children’s false-belief understanding partially mediated the association between a composite of family–infant relationship quality and friendship quality during the preschool period.

Parental responsiveness and infant-parent attachment: a replication study with fathers and mothers

Abstract Few studies have investigated the role of parental sensitivity in the formation of a secure father-infant attachment relationship. Studies involving both mothers and fathers using identical methods and measurement procedures are virtually nonexistent. The purpose of this study was to replicate Smith and Pederson’s (1988) findings examining the prediction of mother-infant attachment and then extend this work to the prediction of father-infant attachment. Infant-mother and infant-father attachment for 62 infants was assessed in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation at 12 and 13 months, respectively. Parental responsiveness was measured using Smith and Pederson’s (1988) No-toy situation. Results revealed that for both mothers and fathers, parental behavior in the No-toy situation neither differed according to attachment classification, nor could accurately predict the quality of mother-infant or father-infant attachment relationships. The strength of the relationship between sensitivity and attachment is discussed.

Positive Consequences of Sibling Conflict in Childhood and Adulthood

The present article was an attempt to integrate the two disparate literatures on sibling conflict in childhood and adulthood with a particular emphasis on the potential benefits of conflictual sibling relations for adult well-being and competence. The extant literature on childrens sibling conflicts underscores that conflictual exchanges may actually be related to increases in childrens social and emotional competence, the development of self and identity formation, sibling relationship quality, and the subsequent parenting of ones own children. We presented descriptive data bearing on similar categorical benefits from our interviews with middle-aged and older adults with respect to sibling conflict in childhood and adulthood. Based on these findings, we recommend that future research on adult social relations should seriously consider the many ways in which challenge, conflict, and adversity in social relationships may contribute to developmental outcomes, both “good” and “bad.”

Parent, Infant, and Contextual Characteristics Related to Maternal Employment Decisions in the First Year of Infancy.

Maternal employment decisions following the birth of a first child were examined. Occupational status, family income, role commitment, the division of labor, and job stress distinguished mothers who returned to fullor part-time employment and those who stayed home throughout the first year. Financial need was the most important reason given for returning to work within 3 months after the infants birth, but career development and personal enjoyment also contributed to womens employment decisions.

Relating individual control, social understanding, and gender to child-friend interaction: A relationships perspective

According to a relationships perspective, it is critical to consider how the individual behaviors and characteristics of both partners shape their social interaction. Adopting a relationships approach to the investigation of childrens friendships, we examined how preschool childrens and their friends’ controlling behaviors, social understanding, and gender were related to their dyadic interaction. Child–friend dyads (n = 49) were videotaped in two laboratory play sessions (free play and sharing task), and child interviews assessed understanding of emotions and false beliefs. Both childrens indirect control was associated with coordinated play during the free play session, and both childrens direct control was associated with conflict during the sharing task. Moreover, dyadic interaction varied as a function of study childrens social understanding, friends’ social understanding, and play session. An interaction between gender composition and play session also emerged for dyadic conflict. Multiple regression analyses suggested that study childrens controlling behaviors accounted for associations between dyadic interaction and more ‘distal’ individual factors (i.e., social understanding, gender). The findings underscore the need to examine how both childrens individual competencies are related to the quality of their dyadic interaction and illuminate how the associations between individual factors and dyadic interaction are moderated by the interactive context.