Zeynep Biringen

Emotional availability: concept, research, and window on developmental psychopathology.

The construct of emotional availability (EA) refers to the capacity of a dyad to share an emotional connection and to enjoy a mutually fulfilling and healthy relationship. The EA Scales were designed to assess multiple components of a relationship from the perspective of both partners. The four caregiver components include sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, and nonhostility; two scales measure the childs responsiveness to the caregiver and involvement of the caregiver. We describe the EA construct and introduce the papers in this issue, focusing on the contributions of this Special Section to a developmental psychopathology framework.

Adult Attachment Interview: linkages with dimensions of emotional availability for mothers and their pre-kindergarteners

Maternal attachment representations were assessed using the George, Kaplan, and Main (1985) Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and emotional availability during observed mother-child interactions was assessed using the third edition of the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales (Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). This edition of EA included four parental scales and two child scales (Maternal Sensitivity, Structuring, Nonintrusiveness and Nonhostility; and Child Responsiveness and Child Involvement). Separate Hierarchical Multiple Regressions (HMRs) were computed to examine the prediction of the separate EA dimensions from demographic information, the AAI classification, and AAI scales. These analyses indicated that each of the EA dimensions (with the exception of maternal nonintrusiveness and nonhostility) was predicted by the AAI classification and/or AAI scales. Using three-step HMRs, the strongest prediction was for maternal sensitivity where 54% of the total variance in maternal sensitivity was explained by maternal education, AAI classification, and AAI ‘state of mind’ scales. Maternal nonhostility was predicted by maternal education and gender of the child, with lower- income mothers and mothers of girls demonstrating greater hostility.

Emotional availability : Differential predictions to infant attachment and kindergarten adjustment based on observation time and context

Two studies are used to illustrate the importance of context and length of time in the use of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) to predict aspects of child development. The purpose of the first study was to examine whether prediction of attachment by the EAS is better with increasing amounts of time. We scored emotional availability (EA) every 15 min for a total of 2 hr, with correlations showing an increasingly stronger relation with attachment with increasing time. In addition, difference scores were calculated between the first and the last 15 min for each EAS dimension. The difference score was significantly higher for the insecure group, suggesting that we need more observation time for the prediction of insecure attachments than is the case for the prediction of secure attachments. The second study investigated whether EA is differentially predictive based on context. We explored play contexts versus reunion contexts. We also explored the relations with other indices of child development. Results revealed that some dimensions of EA (e.g., maternal nonhostility) are difficult to detect outside of a stress context. Maternal nonhostility during the reunion (but not the play situation) was correlated with child aggression in the kindergarten classroom. In addition, most dimensions of EA assessed in the reunion context were better predictors of teacher reports of kindergarten adjustment than was EA assessed in the play situation.

Maternal representation of the self as parent: connections with maternal sensitivity and maternal structuring

Maternal representations of the self as parent were assessed via the Parent Attachment and Peer Relationship Interviews (Bretherton, Biringen, Ridgeway, Maslin-Cole, & Sherman, 1989; Biringen & Bretherton, 1988) when children were 39 months of age. Maternal sensitivity and maternal structuring during mother-child interactions were assessed at 18, 24 and 39 months. The central question of this study was whether maternal representations were related to aspects of observed maternal sensitivity and maternal structuring. We found that maternal sensitivity at 18 months predicted later maternal representations of the self as parent. But beginning at 24 months and continuing to 39 months maternal structuring proved to be a more important predictor of maternal representations of the self, in particular maternal self-esteem, even after controlling for maternal sensitivity.

Appendix A: the Emotional Availability Scales (2nd ed.; an abridged Infancy/Early Childhood Version)

10 HYPERSENSITIVE This refers to a style of interaction that is overly contingent, overly mindful of matching the child’s affects and behaviors, overly praising, and may appear anxious. While warmth and kindness may be striking features of this interaction, the anxiety level of the mother does not promote an atmosphere of relaxed and comfortable interaction with the child. There may also be the quality of being overly sensitive concerning the self, e.g. interpreting the child’s ignoring response or autonomous activity as a threat to the interaction. The more optimally sensitive mother tends to be more comfortable concerning such issues. The interaction is ‘too’ perfect and contingent. 9 HIGHLY SENSITIVE Emotional communication between mother and infant is for the most part positive, appropriate, and creative. The highly sensitive mother displays much genuine, authentic, and congruent interest, pleasure, and amusement with the infant (as opposed to performing these behaviors), as demonstrated by warm smiles and giggles, interested eye Attachment & Human Development Vol 2 No 2 September 2000 251–255

Emotional availability in infant psychiatry

In a child psychiatric population, 68 mother-child pairs were observed, with children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 3 years 10 months. The children were diagnosed using the Zero to Three DC 0-3 guidelines (Zero-to-Three, 1998). Each dyad also was rated in terms of the intensity of recommended therapeutic measures upon intake at our clinic. Following videotaping of parent-child interactions, the dyads were rated for emotional availability using the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS; Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). The group with feeding disorders showed the lowest EAS ratings. The group with regulation disorders (sleeping and crying disorders) had the highest ratings followed by the group with externalizing disorders (motor disorganized and/or aggressive behavior) and attachment disorders. Further, the lower the EAS ratings, the higher the intensity of recommended treatments for the family. These findings indicate the importance of standardized observing of parent-child interactions in infant psychiatric disorders. Some clinical impressions regarding the work with the EAS also are described.

A Multimethod Perspective on Emotional Availability in the Postpartum Period

SYNOPSIS Objective . This study investigates observed and self-reported emotional availability in clinically depressed and nondepressed mother–infant pairs. Design. Observations of mother–infant interaction were made during 30-min free-play interaction during the first year of life in clinically postpartum depressed (n = 49) and nondepressed mothers (n = 35) in Flanders (Belgium). Results . Postpartum depressed mothers had significantly lower scores on most emotional availability dimensions, both as observed by clinicians and on the self-report measure of emotional availability, except for observed hostility and self-reported intrusiveness and hostility, and appeared to have difficulty in being engaged in play interaction with their infants. Both dyadic dimensions of the self-report questionnaire, mutual attunement and affect quality, are related to all six observed dimensions; children seen by their mothers as able to involve them in play are scored as responsive and involving by external observers; mothers of involving infants were observed as more sensitive; self-reported hostility is associated with observed nonhostility and nonintrusiveness; and, as expected, self-reported maternal intrusiveness is not related to observed nonintrusiveness or with other aspects of observed emotional availability. Conclusion. The current study underlines the differences in most aspects of observed and self-reported emotional availability between postpartum depressed and nondepressed mothers, as well the potential divergences between observed and self-perceived aspects of this construct.

Applying the Emotional Availability Scales to children with disabilities

In this article, we describe issues regarding emotional availability and its application to children with disabilities. We then apply this approach to the scoring of emotional availability for caregiver-child interactions of children with disabilities, with information based on children with genetic mental retardation syndromes, children with autism, and children with hearing impairments.

Development of autonomy: role of walking onset and its timing.

The observations of psychoanalytically oriented clinicians such as Mahler, Pine, and Bergman and Greenacre were descriptive of intriguing aspects of the infants transition to upright locomotion. Yet, research on how walking creates changes in the infant and in the family have scarcely been studied. In this naturalistic home study, 46 infants were designated “earlier” (13 girls and 10 boys) and “later” (12 girls and 11 boys) walkers based on their relative timing of entry into this developmental transition. Analyses between these two groups were done with age held constant and indicated that the earlier walkers showed a greater rise in autonomous functioning across the transition to self-produced, upright locomotion. Autonomy was assessed as infant proximity-seeking and distancing with respect to mother and “testing of wills” between mother and child. These findings suggested that the timing of beginning to walk crucially affects the development of autonomy. In addition to these clear differences associated with the walking transition, there were differences between the two groups in an aspect of temperament, Distress to Limitations, even prior to walking onset as well as at all time points of measurement.

Early development of opioid‐exposed infants born to mothers in buprenorphine‐replacement therapy

The purpose of the study was to examine cognitive development (using the Bayley MDI) and mother–child interaction (using the Emotion Availability Scales, 3rd edition) among infants of opioid‐abusing mothers. Participants were 87 dyads (15 opioid‐exposed, 15 maternal depression and 57 unexposed mother–infant dyads). The study group included 15 infants (mean age=7.0 months, sd=2.8 months) of mothers who participated in buprenorphine‐replacement therapy. Study variables were evaluated during the second half of the first year and compared with the infants of depressed (mean age = 8.06 months, sd =2.4 months) and nonabusing mothers (mean age = 9.96 months, sd =2.9 months). The opioid‐exposed infants earned the lowest Bayley‐II MDI scores. Furthermore, they scored the lowest in infant involvement. The role of environmental risk factors, in turn, was highlighted in that the opioid‐abusing mothers scored the lowest in maternal sensitivity, structuring and nonintrusiveness. Maternal childhood foster care and criminal record were significantly related to lower sensitivity and higher intrusiveness. Finally, the environmental risk status of the opioid‐exposed infants was further underlined in that there were more separations from the mother in the end of the first year as well as an elevated risk for physical abuse.