Infant–mother and infant–father synchrony: The coregulation of positive arousal

Abstract

To examine the coregulation of positive affect during mother-infant and father-infant interactions, 100 couples and their first-born child were videotaped in face-to-face interactions. Parents' and infant's affective states were coded in one-second frames, and synchrony was measured with timeseries analysis. The orientation, intensity, and temporal pattern of infant positive arousal were assessed. Synchrony between same-gender parent-infant dyads was more optimal in terms of stronger lagged associations between parent and infant affect, more frequent mutual synchrony, and shorter lags to responsiveness. Infants' arousal during mother-infant interaction cycled between medium and low levels, and high positive affect appeared gradually and was embedded within a social episode. During fatherchild play, positive arousal was high, sudden, and organized in multiple peaks that appeared more frequently as play progressed. Mother-infant synchrony was linked to the partners' social orientation and was inversely related to maternal depression and infant negative emotionality. Father-child synchrony was related to the intensity of positive arousal and to father attachment security. Results contribute to research on the regulation of positive emotions and describe the unique modes of affective sharing that infants coconstruct with mother and father.RESUMEN: Para examinar la co-regulación del afecto positivo durante las interacciones entre la madre y su hijo y el padre y su hijo, cien parejas y sus hijos primerizos fueron grabadas en vídeo en sesiones de interacciones cara a cara. Los estados afectivos de los padres y de los infantes fueron codificados en marcos de un segundo, y la sincronía se midió por medio de un análisis de tiempo en serie. Se evaluaron la orientación, la intensidad, y el patrón temporal del despertar positivo del infante. La sincronía entre las díadas del mismo sexo (madre-hija o padre-hijo) fue más óptima en términos de más fuertes asociaciones espaciadas del afecto entre padre/madre e infante, la más frecuente mutua sincronía, y más cortos espacios de sensibilidad.. El despertar de los niños durante la interacción entre la madre y su infante osciló entre los niveles medio y bajo, y el afecto positivo alto apareció gradualmente y se encontraba metido dentro de una situación social. Durante el juego entre el padre y su infante, el despertar positivo fue alto, rápido y organizado en múltiples puntos máximos que aparecieron con mayor frecuencia a medida que el juego progresaba. La sincronía entre la madre y su infante fue asociada con la orientación social de los participantes y fue inversamente relacionada con la depresión maternal y la negativa emocionalidad del infante. La sincronía entre el padre y su infante fue relacionada con la intensidad del despertar positivo y con la seguridad de la afectividad paterna. Los resultados contribuyen a la investigación sobre la regulación de las emociones positivas y describen los modelos únicos de la afectividad compartida que los infantes co-construyen con...

An exploratory analysis of emotion dynamics between mothers and adolescents during conflict discussions.

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