Social interaction between deaf preschoolers and their mothers: The effects of communication method and communication competence.

Examined the effects of both communication mode (oral vs oral plus manual) and level of communicative competence (high vs low) on the play interaction of 28 profoundly deaf preschool children (3–5? yrs old) and their hearing mothers. Mothers and children from 2 groups, oral and simultaneous (oral plus manual) communicators matched on audiologic and demographic variables, were videotaped during free play. The tapes were later subjected to an interaction analysis that examined behavior at the level of the dyad rather than the individual. The duration and complexity of interaction were strongly affected by both the method and level of communication. Simultaneous dyads had interactions that were longer and more complex and contained more cooperation and positive affect than those of oral dyads. Simultaneous communication is discussed in terms of its benefits for both the communicative and social competence of profoundly deaf children. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of eye contact between mothers and normal versus Down's syndrome infants.

Eye contact between mothers and 7 normal as well as 5 Down's syndrome infants was recorded over Ss' 1st 6 mo of life, both during naturalistic face-to-face interactions (mobile condition) and when mothers were silent and kept their faces still (immobile condition). Mental Development Index scores from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were 66–202 for Down's syndrome Ss and 99–220 for normals. In the mobile condition normals consistently showed double peak patterns in the development of eye contact at 7 and 14 wks of age. Analysis of temporal and discriminative aspects of the eye contact revealed qualitative differences between the 2 peaks. Down's syndrome Ss showed delays in the onset of eye contact and in the establishment of high levels of this behavior. Once these levels were attained during the 3rd mo, high overall levels as well as long episodes of eye contact were maintained for much longer than in the normals. Although this appeared to be beneficial for the formation of the mother–infant bond, it also indicated increasing delays in the development of new functional uses of eye contact. Impairments in both maturational and psychological processes were thus implied. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental comparisons of face-to-face and mediated communication: A review.

Reviews approximately 30 recent research studies that have investigated how human communication is affected by the use of telecommunications media. These studies used various types of media and both cooperative and conflictful communication situations. Several media effects were described in these studies, and consistencies among these results have begun to emerge. Accordingly, it is now possible to test theories of mediated communication and to advance our understanding of nonverbal communication. In addition, it is possible to come to some practical conclusions regarding the suitability of telecommunications media for small-group interaction. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The temporal coordination of early infant communication.

The ability to coordinate expressive behaviors is crucial to the development of social and emotional communication. Coordination involves systematic sequencing of behaviors from two different modalities that have some temporal overlap. A bootstrapping procedure was used to determine whether preverbal 3- and 6-month-old infants sequence vocalizations, gazes at their mothers' faces, and facial expressions into pairs of coordinated patterns nonrandomly. Smiles and frowns were highly coordinated with vocalizations. Smiles were also coordinated with gazes at mothers' faces, which became stronger with age. Vocalizations were not coordinated with gazes at mothers' faces. These findings illustrate the manner in which infants temporally coordinate communicative actions and provide new evidence that facial expressions (particularly smiles) are central to early infant communications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-mate or twin sibling: Effects on interactions between monkey mothers and infants.

Examined the effects of the twin sibling relationship upon interactions between mother and infant. 12 rhesus monkey infants were reared with a mother and nonsibling peers; 8 had an age-mate or twin sibling, while 4 control infants did not. The sibling pairs were formed by fostering newborns 2 to a mother; the control infants were fostered 1 to a mother. Findings indicate that the twin infants did not engage in as much interaction with their mothers throughout a 7-mo period of observation on a wide range of indexes, including such basic behaviors as a contact with the mother's ventrum and nipples. The mothers rearing twins spent less time cradling their infants and less frequently rejected them. There were a few additional differences, notably in the area of restrictive behavior, but it is concluded that the differences in maternal behavior were principally a reaction to the differences in infant behavior. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurocognitive sequelae of infants of diabetic mothers.

On the basis of animal models, it was hypothesized that infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) would be at risk for suffering damage to the hippocampus primarily because of fetal iron deficiency, chronic hypoxia, and hypoglycemia. This, in turn, may result in impairments in recognition memory at a young age. To test this model, the memory of 6-month-old IDMs and control infants was evaluated with electrophysiological (event-related potential [ERP]) and behavioral (looking time) measures. At 12 months, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development was administered. Our ERP measures showed robust evidence consistent with memory deficits in the IDMs. In contrast, the looking time measures and the Bayley exam failed to distinguish between the groups. From these results it was concluded that the ERP, but not the behavioral, measures are able to detect, in an at-risk population, deficits in recognition memory that are thought to be mediated by damage to the hippocampus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial expressivity in infants of depressed mothers.

Examined facial expressions in 84 3-mo-old infants of mothers classified as depressed, nondepressed, or low scoring on the Beck Depression Inventory. Mother–infant dyads were videotaped during a 3-min face-to-face interaction, and the videotapes were coded by using the AFFEX facial expression coding system. Infants of both depressed and low-scoring mothers showed significantly more sadness and anger expressions and fewer interest expressions than infants of nondepressed mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interdependence of parenting of mothers and fathers of infants.

This study examined the relations among parenting behaviors of 97 coresident mothers and fathers of infants during a dyadic free-play setting. The authors examined the extent to which observed sensitive and intrusive parenting behaviors in mother-child and father-child dyads were related and how perceived marital quality may be associated with the similarity between maternal and paternal parenting behaviors. The authors found support for interdependence of parenting by mothers and fathers. High perceived marital quality was associated with interdependence of sensitive parenting behaviors in mother-infant and father-infant interactions. Negative parenting behaviors by mothers and fathers were interrelated regardless of marital quality. The findings highlight the importance of studying parenting by mothers and fathers as embedded within particular family systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression in mothers of infants: The role of maternal employment.

The purpose of this research was to identify significant factors that mediate the relation between employment, motherhood, and the mental health status of mothers of infants. In Study 1, 209 mothers of 12-mo-old infants were administered the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale (E. Hock et al, 1988), Beck Depression Inventory, and a stress scale. Ss were divided into 4 groups on the basis of both employment status and employment preference. Women who preferred employment but remained at home reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology. Study 2 demonstrated the reliability of the finding and identified issues associated with underlying psychological factors. A new sample of 164 mothers completed the aforementioned measures, the Career Salience Questionnaire (J. H. Greenhaus; see record 1972-23919-001), and the Maternal Role Investment Scale (Hock, 1976). Results replicated those of Study 1 and also indicated that homemakers who preferred employment held conflicting sets of beliefs about the maternal role, separation from their infants, careers, and employment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in mother-infant face-to-face communication: Birth to 3 months.

This study documented the growth of the earliest form of face-to-face communication in 16 mother-infant dyads, videotaped weekly during a naturalistic face-to-face interaction, between 1 and 14 weeks, in 2 conditions: with the infant in the mother's arms and with the infant semi-reclined on a sofa. Results showed a curvilinear development of early face-to-face communication, with a significant increase occurring between Week 4 and Week 9 depending on the dyad. After 2 months, trajectories diverged into 2 groups: 1 whose duration of face-to-face communication continued to increase and 1 whose duration peaked and then began to decrease. After the 1st month, the duration of face-to-face communication was significantly longer when the infant was on the sofa rather than in the mother's arms. In the latter condition, during the 3rd month, girls spent a significantly longer time than boys in face-to-face communication. These findings suggest that context (infant being held vs. not being held) interacts with the infant's age and sex in affecting mother-infant communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotions and emotional communication in infants.

Important advances have recently been made in studying emotions in infants and the nature of emotional communication between infants and adults. Infant emotions and emotional communications are far more organized than previously thought. Infants display a variety of discrete affective expressions that are appropriate to the nature of events and their context. They also appreciate the emotional meaning of the affective displays of caretakers. The emotional expressions of the infant and the caretaker function to allow them to mutually regulate their interactions. Indeed, it appears that a major determinant of children's development is related to the operation of this communication system. Positive development may be associated with the experience of coordinated interactions characterized by frequent reparations of interactive errors and the transformation of negative affect into positive affect, whereas negative development appears to be associated with sustained periods of interactive failure and negative affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal directiveness and infant compliance at one year of age: a comparison between mothers and their developmentally-delayed infants and mothers and their nondelayed infants

Maternal directiveness and infant compliance at one year of age were observed in social interactions between mothers and their handicapped and nonhandicapped infants. Eleven nondelayed, typically developing infants, and nine developmentally delayed infants, matched for chronological age, were observed in a free play situation with their mothers. Mothers of the delayed infants attempted to direct their children's play significantly more than those with nondelayed infants, and they engaged more frequently in social play involving physical contact with their infants. Nondelayed infants complied with their mothers' directives more than the developmentally delayed infants. Further study of infant capabilities and maternal affect and behaviors with this age group is suggested.     

Auditory-visual integration of temporal relations in infants.

A total of 100 3–4 mo old infants in 2 experiments were assigned to 1 of 2 groups: one group was first presented with temporally synchronous auditory and visual signals during habituation trials and then nonsynchronous signals during recovery; the other groups received the opposite sequence. The auditory and visual signals were spatially congruous in Exp I, but were separated in Exp II. Since the pulse rate of the visual stimuli was changed for the nonsynchronous trials, a control group was tested that received only the light during habituation and recovery trials. The groups initially presented synchronous signals showed habituation and recovery. Neither group presented nonsynchronous stimuli showed recovery. The group with the spatially separated sources habituated, while the group with the spatially congruous signals did not. Results suggest that infants coordinate the temporal relations. (French abstract) (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enrolling and retaining mothers of substance-exposed infants in drug abuse treatment.

This study provided an experimental test of a drug abuse treatment enrollment and retention intervention in a sample of 103 Black mothers of substance-exposed infants. Significantly more women assigned to the Engaging Moms Program enrolled into drug abuse treatment than did women assigned to the control condition (88% vs. 46%). Sixty-seven percent of participants in the Engaging Moms Program received at least 4 weeks of drug abuse treatment compared with 38% of the control women. However, there were no differences between the groups 90 days following treatment entry. Logistic regressions revealed that readiness for treatment predicted both short-term and long-term treatment retention. The Engaging Moms Program has considerable promise in facilitating treatment entry and short-term retention, but it did not influence long-term retention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional availability and attachment representations in kibbutz infants and their mothers.

Three components of the attachment transmission model were examined in 48 kibbutz dyads from 2 kibbutz sleeping arrangements: communal and home-based. Concurrent assessments used the Strange Situation procedure (M. D. Ainsworth, M. C. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978) for infants' attachment relations, the Adult Attachment Interview (C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1985) for mothers' attachment representations, and the Emotional Availability Scales (Z. Biringen, J. L. Robinson, & R. N. Emde, 1993) for emotional availability in the dyads. Security of infants' attachment relations as well as autonomy of mothers' attachment representations were associated with higher emotional availability scores. In addition, significantly poorer emotional availability was found in dyads in which infants were insecurely attached and mothers were nonautonomous. Results also indicate that in the ecology of collective sleeping, the associations between the experience of emotional availability in the dyads and infants' and mothers' attachment may have been disrupted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning and discrimination of audiovisual events in human infants: The hierarchical relation between intersensory temporal synchrony and rhythmic pattern cues.

This study examined 4- to 10-month-old infants' perception of audio-visual (A-V) temporal synchrony cues in the presence or absence of rhythmic pattern cues. Experiment 1 established that infants of all ages could successfully discriminate between two different audiovisual rhythmic events. Experiment 2 showed that only 10-month-old infants detected a desynchronization of the auditory and visual components of a rhythmical event. Experiment 3 showed that 4- to 8-month-old infants could detect A-V desynchronization but only when the audiovisual event was nonrhythmic. These results show that initially in development infants attend to the overall temporal structure of rhythmic audiovisual events but that later in development they become capable of perceiving the embedded intersensory temporal synchrony relations as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences among mothers of infants judged to differ in security.

38 12-mo-old infants were seen with their mothers in a strange situation test. On the basis of reunion behavior in this situation, each infant was judged securely attached to the mother, insecurely attached to the mother, or intermediate in security. When the infants were 21 mo, research assistants blind to strange situation behavior rated maternal behavior from videotapes of a mother–child free play session. Mothers of securely attached infants were significantly more sensitive, accepting, and expressive of affect than mothers of insecurely attached infants. Mothers of insecurely attached infants were found to be more angry. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the strange-situation procedure with Japanese mothers and 12-month-old infants.

Applied the strange-situation procedure to 60 pairs of Japanese infants (mean age 12 mo) and their mothers and compared their results with those reported by M. S. Ainsworth et al (1978). As in the Ainsworth et al study, infants were classified into A, B, and C types. Findings show no significant differences in proportions of securely attached (68%) and insecurely attached (32%) infants between the countries. Degrees and patterns of interactive behaviors in each type were also similar. However, the Japanese insecure group consisted of only C (no A) types. About half of the C-type infants behaved inconsistently: They behaved like B-type infants in Episodes 2–5 and like C-type infants thereafter. Findings are interpreted in terms of the excessive stress caused by the procedure and Japanese childrearing customs fostering the attachment to the mother. Two strategies are proposed for getting richer information from the procedure in different cultures, including a multiple classification of varying stress levels and a cultural examination of the diagnostic value of each behavior as a classificatory cue. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure and temporal stability of the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale.

In this study, the authors examined the factor structure and temporal stability of the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale (CAPS; G. L. Flett, P. L. Hewitt, D. J. Boucher, L. A. Davidson, & Y. Munro, 1997) in 2 samples of adolescents (15–16 years old). In Sample 1 (n = 624), confirmatory factor analysis did not support a 2-factor structure (self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism). As in B. T. McCreary, T. E. Joiner, N. B. Schmidt, & N. S. Ialongo (2004), reanalysis suggested a 3-factor solution (i.e., socially prescribed perfectionism, self-oriented–Striving perfectionism, self-oriented–Critical perfectionism). The authors validated their 3-factor model in an independent replication sample (Sample 2; n = 514) and confirmed that the 3-factor structure was invariant across gender and time (test–retest over 6 months). Taking these analyses together, the authors concluded that their discriminant 3-factor structure is robust. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. More research on the predictive validity of the CAPS is suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)