Wilberta L. Donovan

Fathers' and mothers' responses to infant smiles and cries*

Forty-eight mother—father pairs watched a 6-minute videotape presentation of an infant during which time their skin conductance and blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) were monitored. Mood scales were also administered. Half of the subjects saw a crying baby, while the other half viewed a smiling infant. The baby was labeled as “normal,” “difficult,” or “premature,” to equal proportions of the sample. All parents completed standard questionnaires concerning their own child. The smiling infant triggered positive emotions and negligible changes in autonomic arousal, whereas a crying infant was perceived as aversive and elicited diastolic blood-pressure and skin-conductance increases. Skin-conductance increases were especially apparent when the infant was described as “premature.” Mothers and fathers did not differ either in their responses to the stimulus baby or in their perception of their own child.

Physiologic correlates of direct and averted gaze

The present study was designed to explore the effects of reciprocated and unreciprocated gaze upon skin conductance and heart rate response. A paradigm used previously to investigate maternal response to infant gaze was selected which allowed us to consider possible order effects, sex differences and differential rates of habituation in response to direct and averted gaze. Twenty-four males and 24 females were shown 10 sec silent images of an adult face on a videotape monitor of an adult face. In one condition, the en face position offered eye contact; in the other condition, eye contact was not possible. Each subject viewed a sequence of six identical episodes of one condition followed by six episodes of the other condition. Analysis of skin conductance response revealed a significant effect of stimulus sex (p less than 0.05) with the male stimulus figures eliciting the greater skin conductance response. HR responses to the two conditions varied not only as a function of stimulus sex but also as a function of the viewers sex. The most distinctive data came from a male viewing another male. For this group alone, responding was consistent to unreciprocated gaze viewed first (p less than 0.01) and viewed second (p less than 0.05); and for this group alone responding to reciprocated gaze viewed first habituated (p less than 0.05).

Perceived infant temperament, locus of control, and maternal physiological response to infant gaze

Abstract Maternal physiologic response was used as an index of maternal attention to infant eye contact. Thirty-six women, each of whom had a 3-month-old infant, were shown 10-sec silent images of a 3-month-old infant on a videotape monitor. In one condition the en face position offered eye contact, in the other condition eye contact was not possible. Each woman viewed a sequence of six identical episodes of one condition followed by six episodes of the other condition. Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded continuously during the session. Skin conductance response did not differentiate between reciprocated and unreciprocated gaze. Cardiac response elicited by reciprocated gaze viewed first shifted from a predominately orienting response on early trials to an acceleratory response on Trial 6. The acceleratory response was most pronounced in those women identified as Externals by the Locus of Control Inventory ( Rotter, J. B. Psychological Monographs , 1966 , 80 , [No. 609]). Initial viewing of the infant looking away elicited a predominantly deceleratory heart-rate response that did not habituate. Mothers who described their infants as being difficult as assessed by the questionnaire method ( Carey, W. B. Journal of Pediatrics , 1970 , 77 , 188–194) were physiologically less sensitive to the change from the infants averted gaze to its direct gaze. Results are discussed in terms of the role of direct and averted gaze during social transactions.

Physiologic Assessment of Mother-Infant Attachment

Mother-infant pairs were observed and videotaped in the Ainsworth-Wittig strange situation, a standard laboratory setting designed to assess the infants quality of attachment. Concurrent with the video tape recording, heart rates of mother and infant were recorded throughout the session. Security of mother-infant attachment was reflected in the physiological responses of both mother and infant to the social events of interest in the strange situation. Securely attached infants exhibited a deceleratory response concurrent with attention to the strangers entrance and her approach toward the infant. Similarly the mothers of these securely attached infants showed an “attentive” response to both these episodes. Insecurely attached infants and their mothers failed to show consistent physiologic response to either episode. Impending separation from the mother elicited an acceleratory response in both securely and insecurely attached infants even though their behavioral responses differed.

Maternal Control Strategies, Maternal Language Usage and Children's Language Usage at Two Years.

The present study determined whether parenting style, defined by control strategies varying in power-assertion mediated the established relation between maternal language usage (grammar and semantics) and child language (grammar, semantics and pragmatics) during toddlerhood (n=60). Based upon their use of control strategies mothers were categorized into continuum-of-control groups (i.e., high guidance (HG), high control (HC) or high negative control (HNC)). Mothers in the high negative control group, who characteristically used high levels of prohibitions and commands, had children who performed relatively poorly overall on the language measures (i.e., MLU, number of bound morphemes, number of different words and use of language functions). In contrast, children of mothers in the HG and HC groups exhibited more advanced language usage overall. The relation between maternal and child language usage was mediated by parenting style for child pragmatics and partially for child grammar.

CONSISTENCY IN INFANT SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS AND MOTHER-INFANT INTERACTION

This study examined the association between infant sleeping arrangements (i.e., habitual co-sleeping, inconsistent co-sleeping, and non-co-sleeping) and quality of mother-infant interaction during play in a sample of mothers, each with a typically developing infant (N=70). Mother-infant dyads who experienced consistency in infant sleeping arrangements in a typical week at 6 months (i.e., habitual co-sleeping or non-co-sleeping) were characterized by more positive maternal and infant behavior and dyadic quality of interaction at 9 months compared with dyads who experienced inconsistency in sleeping arrangements. Additionally, a greater amount of co-sleeping per week was associated with an increased duration of breastfeeding, mothers working fewer hours, less infant temperamental intensity, and less maternal depression. This study underscores the advantages of empirically based studies that consider consistency in infant sleep experience as a factor that is associated with more positive mother-child interaction.

Physiology and Behavior

This chapter reviews studies of parental response to the infant cry. In this review, the cry is considered as a social signal that mediates developing parent-infant interaction. The studies examine links between the cry as a signal, processing of the cry by caregivers, and consequences of their behavioral response to the cry.