Coregulation and the Quality of the Relationship in Full‐Term and Very Low‐Birthweight Preterm Infant‐Mother Dyads During Face‐To‐Face Interactions

Abstract

Interactions with parents build the foundation for infants' social-emotional development. This study investigated coregulation of the interaction and quality of relationship between mothers and their 6-month-old full-term (n = 43) and very low-birthweight/preterm (VLBW/preterm; n = 44; ages corrected for prematurity) infants. The objectives were to examine (1) how coregulation changed following a perturbed interaction, (2) how coregulation differed between full-term and VLBW/preterm infant-mother dyads, and (3) the association between coregulation and relationship quality. Coregulation was coded using the Revised Relational Coding System . Quality of the relationship was measured using the Emotional Availability scales (Biringen et al., 2014;Carter et al., 1998). Dyads participated in the Still-Face (SF) procedure (Tronick et al., 1978) consisting of two natural and one SF period where mothers assumed a neutral expression, refraining from interacting with their infants. Following the SF period, dyads engaged in more symmetrical and more disruptive patterns of coregulation. While full-term dyads engaged in more sequential-symmetrical, VLBW/preterm dyads engaged in more resonant-symmetrical coregulation. These results suggest that VLBW/preterm dyads may show more emotional reactivity in their interactions than full-term dyads; however, in both groups infant responsiveness and parenting stress influenced the types of coregulation exhibited.Correspondence should be sent to Kelly M. Doiron or Dale M. Stack,

Persistence of Effects of VLBW/PT Birth Status and Maternal Emotional Availability (EA) on Child EA Trajectories

“…Our results indicate that low child EA, reflected in responsiveness and involvement of their mothers may be a risk factor for VLBW/PT children. Our findings are consistent with those of others that indicate that VLBW/PT children have difficulties in socio-emotional domains relative to their fullterm peers (e.g., Doiron and Stack, 2017; Zmyj et al, 2017; Nadeau et al, 2018). They have been demonstrated to have more limited regulatory skills (e.g., Jean and Stack, 2012; Yaari et al, 2018), show more distancing and social monitoring (Montirosso et al, 2010), and rely more on their mothers in a reunion period following the still-face (Jean and Stack, 2012).…”

“…During social interactions, VLBW/PT infants are known to be less alert, more excitable, harder to soothe, and have poorer self-regulation (Jean and Stack, 2012; Provenzi et al, 2017) compared to fullterm infants. Thus, they are poor social partners, and often demonstrate fewer relationship building behaviors, including co-regulation (Doiron and Stack, 2017), making it potentially more difficult for mothers to engage with their infants optimally. Yet, the mother (and father) can be integral in mediating and fostering their social development (e.g., Montagna and Nosarti, 2016; Zmyj et al, 2017) through the frequent interactions that take place as their relationship develops.…”

Methodological Considerations for Comparison of Cross-species Use of Tactile Contact

“…Additionally, it is important to consider that current methodologies that emphasize the initiator and recipient of a tactile contact are a good starting point; however, incorporating more dynamic models where the interaction is considered communicative and bidirectional could provide more complex descriptions of the interaction. For example, a dynamic model approach might help determine the roles the initiator and recipient play in a communicative exchange based on their relationship history over time (for examples of more dynamic methodologies applied to humans, see Doiron & Stack, 2017;Mantis, Stack, Ng, Serbin, & Schwartzman, 2014).…”

The Functions of Mutual Touch in Full-Term and Very Low-Birthweight/Preterm Infant-Mother Dyads: Associations with Infant Affect and Emotional Availability During Face-to-Face Interactions

“…Maternal sensitivity was selected given that research has isolated sensitivity as an important component of maternal emotional availability that affects dyadic behavior (Kaye & Fogel, 1980;Little & Carter, 2005). Previous research has suggested that infants who are less responsive may have more difficulty expressing themselves and, thus, appear unengaged during interactions with their caregivers (Doiron & Stack, 2017). As such, infant responsiveness was also a predictor in order to better investigate its relationship with the various functions of mutual touch.…”

“…Investigations of interaction patterns have documented differences in the communicative styles between preterm infant-mother dyads and full-term infant-mother dyads during the first year of life (Doiron & Stack, 2017;Jean & Stack, 2012;White-Traut et al, 2013). From an early age, preterm infants present as more challenging and qualitatively different social partners than full-term infants.…”