Developmental correlates and predictors of emotional availability in mother–child interaction: A longitudinal study from infancy to middle childhood

Easterbrooks, M. Ann; Bureau, Jean‐François; Lyons‐Ruth, Karlen

doi:10.1017/s0954579411000666

Cited by 118 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…SDT supports the idea that parents’ expression of hostility and use of psychological control tend to undermine children's need for relatedness, autonomy, and competence (Grusec & Davidov, 2010; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2010), with empirical support stronger for certain situations and certain ages than others (Denham & Grout, 1992; Easterbrooks, Bureau, & Lyons-Ruth, 2012). There is general support for the idea that parental hostility would be strongly connected to child negativity early in life; especially in the case of mothers because they typically spend more time directly caring for children (Bornstein, 2015; Bugental & Grusec, 2006; Lorber & Egeland, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Ebb and Flow in Parent-Child Interactions: Shifts from Early through Middle Childhood

2015

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Objective This study documents the strength of relations between key parent and child behaviors as they occur during typical encounters for both mothers and fathers and determines whether there were shifts in the strength of relations between parent and child behaviors during early and middle childhood. Design Multivariate multi-level modeling was used to examine associations between three parent behaviors (respect for autonomy, stimulation of development, hostility) and two child behaviors (agency, negativity) as they occurred in typical parent-child activities at four time points from 54 months through 5th grade for 817 families. Results For mothers and fathers, respect for autonomy and stimulation were associated with child agency. Paternal hostility was negatively associated with child agency, but for mothers the relation became more positive with age. Parental respect for autonomy and hostility were associated with child negativity for both mothers and fathers; however, for mothers, relations between autonomy support and child negativity became more positive, and relations between hostility and child negativity became less positive. Conclusions There are clear shifts in the strength of relations between some parenting behaviors and child behaviors from early to middle childhood, indicative of a changing dialectic as children become more independent and different dialectics for mothers and fathers. Parenting behavior links to child competence and adaptive behavior, and the findings may help resolve some uncertainties about relations between parental behavior and children's developmental trajectories.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Ebb and Flow in Parent-Child Interactions: Shifts from Early through Middle Childhood

2015

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“…For example, it is possible that in order to identify antecedents for disorganized attachment a coding system designed specifically for this purpose, such as the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument of Assessment and Classification (AMBIANCE; Lyons-Ruth, Bronfman, & Parsons, 1999), is needed. Although AMBIANCE infancy scores and middle childhood EAS are longitudinally related (Easterbrooks, Bureau, & Lyons-Ruth, 2012) and in some cases EAS was found to be associated with disorganized attachment (see review in Biringen & Easterbrooks, 2012), in other cases this was not the case. It is quite possible that the AMBIANCE, because it was developed for this purpose, is more effective in undercovering antecedents of attachment disorganization (Madigan et al, 2006).…”

Section: Ea and Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional availability: Research advances and theoretical questions

Oppenheim

2012

Dev Psychopathol

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The commentary opens by highlighting the contribution of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) in providing developmental researchers with a clinically sensitive and reliable assessment of the emotional quality of caregiver-child interactions that takes into consideration their coregulated nature. The numerous studies that have used the EAS attest to their usefulness and to the way they balance complexity and attention to emotional nuances with clarity. Several issues with regard to the EAS are discussed subsequently. First, I propose that looking at patterns of the EA scales might be a way to capture the quality of each dyad's emotional dialogue. Second, I suggest that the description of attachment research as concerned almost exclusively with the regulation of distress is inaccurate, in light of Ainsworth's broad assessment of naturalistic home observations. Third, I raise the possibility that additional specialized coding systems beyond the EAS may be needed for predicting certain specific psychopathological outcomes (e.g., disorganized attachment). Fourth, I propose that it is important to explore cross-culturally the meaning of the behaviors on which the EAS focus, rather than assume cross-cultural equivalence. Fifth and finally, I point out the importance of placing the EAS in the context of the existing literature on early intervention and treatment.

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“…The emotional quality of the mother-child relationship during infancy and early childhood is thought to foster the development of secure child attachment, which has been shown to positively affect children's emotion and stress regulation skills [6,7,8]. Thus, children of depressed mothers constitute a high-risk group for later development of reduced socioemotional competencies and increased psychopathology [9,10,11]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postnatal Mother-to-Infant Attachment in Subclinically Depressed Mothers: Dyads at Risk?

et al. 2016

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Background: Dyadic interactions between children and depressed mothers have been characterized as less synchronous and with lower maternal sensitivity, fostering an inharmonious, insecure attachment relationship between mother and child. Thus, these children may experience enhanced early life stress and are at higher risk of disturbed socioemotional development. Recently, this association has also been found in women with mild depressive symptoms. However, potential confounding effects of mother's history of own rearing experiences or infant temperament on the link between depressive symptoms and postnatal mother-to-infant attachment have not yet been investigated. Methods: Differences in mother-to-infant attachment (e.g. quality of attachment, absence of hostility, and pleasure in interaction) between mothers with and without symptoms of depression 6-8 months postpartum were analyzed in a low-risk community sample (n = 38, 19 per group). Depressive symptomatology was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Depressed mothers indicated mild-to-moderate depressive symptomatology (mean BDI-II 11.26 ± 3.86) but did not fulfill criteria for a major depressive episode and, thus, were referred to as ‘subclinically' depressed. Potential confounders, namely maternal history of own rearing experiences and infant temperament, were explored by multivariate AN(C)OVA. Results: Primiparous mothers with subclinical depression differed significantly from healthy control mothers, i.e. showed poorer mother-to-infant attachment and higher infant-related hostility 6-8 months postpartum. As expected, infant temperament and mother's history of own rearing experiences were both associated with mother-to-infant attachment but did not explain the negative effects of subclinical depression on the mother-infant relationship. Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of maternal depression, the current findings give reason for increased concern for the developing mother-child relationship. Therefore, early interventions are needed that focus on the mother-child dyad and target not only clinically but also subclinically depressed mothers.

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Developmental correlates and predictors of emotional availability in mother–child interaction: A longitudinal study from infancy to middle childhood

Cited by 118 publications

References 48 publications

Ebb and Flow in Parent-Child Interactions: Shifts from Early through Middle Childhood

Ebb and Flow in Parent-Child Interactions: Shifts from Early through Middle Childhood

Emotional availability: Research advances and theoretical questions

Postnatal Mother-to-Infant Attachment in Subclinically Depressed Mothers: Dyads at Risk?

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