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

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the communicative functions of mutual touch during mother-infant interactions and their relation with infants’ affect and the quality of the mother-infant relationship. The two normal periods of the Still-Face procedure were examined for mothers and their 5½-month-old full-term (n=40) and very low-birthweight/preterm (VLBW/preterm; n=40) infants. The Functions of Mother-Infant Mutual Touch Scale was used to code the function of each mutual touch. Results indicated that full-term infant-mother dyads spent significantly more time engaged in playful and regulatory mutual touch compared to VLBW/preterm infant-mother dyads who spent significantly more time engaged in attention-centered, unbalanced, and guided mutual touch. Infant smiling was found to significantly co-occur with playful mutual touch for both the full-term and VLBW/preterm infants, while fretting co-occurred with unbalanced mutual touch for VLBW/preterm infants. Higher levels of maternal sensitivity and regulatory mutual touch were associated for full-term dyads, while lower levels of maternal sensitivity were associated with unbalanced mutual touch for VLBW/preterm dyads. Results from this study enable a more comprehensive understanding of the functions of mutual touching, and suggest key differences in which mutual touching behaviours are organized with infants’ affect and relationship dimensions between mothers and their infants.

Joint Attention in Human and Chimpanzee Infants in Varied Socio‐Ecological Contexts

“…Using joint engagement, a more inclusive definition of joint attention, may have allowed for chimpanzees to exhibit the range of their ability to engage triadically. Our more inclusive definition allowed for other modalities of engagement (tactile, in addition to visual engagement, see Botero, 2016; Mantis & Stack, 2018), and included a wider variety of shared topics (that were not necessarily objects). Additionally, we conducted observations in each chimpanzee infant's everyday socio‐ecological context ( chimpanzee friendly contexts), allowing natural expressions of triadic joint engagement rather than conducting experimental testing in laboratory settings.…”

“…The mother adjusts the tension in her leg as the infant pulls to a stand (tactile engagement). The infant may adjust their hold on the mother's leg, while she moves her leg, and both may make further adjustments for the infant to maintain balance and the mother to provide support (mutual tactile engagement, see Mantis & Stack, 2018). For this event to be counted as JE, however, there needs to be an explicit acknowledgment of the jointness.…”

“…With distal caregiving practices, behavioral markers of connectedness are predominantly visual, including mutual gaze or gaze alternations. With proximal caregiving practices, markers of connectedness are more often tactile (e.g., Bard, 1992;Botero, 2016;Mantis & Stack, 2018). To decolonize joint attention, both visual and tactile markers of coordination must be included.…”

Mother–Infant Dyadic Synchrony in the NICU Context

“…That is, an infant's change in facial expression, motor response, or fluctuation in oxygen saturation level are examples of observable behaviors that convey the infant's readiness to the recipient 52,56. Furthermore, mothers' effectiveness in responding to these signals enhances the return messages conveyed from these infants 19,33. When a mother demonstrates heightened awareness to her infants' cues, the infant grows in mastery to tolerate these exchanges and synchrony emerges 29,55.…”

“…31 In the same way, touch seems to play a salient function in strengthening feelings of closeness and serves as a conduit to fostering mother-infant nonverbal coengagement. 32,33 Specifically, touch stimulates the release of oxytocin during skin-to-skin care, 34 promotes synchronous mother-infant interactions, 18 and strengthens maternal feelings of connection toward her preterm infant. 32 In the NICU, a mother's emotionality fluctuates throughout the course of her infant's hospitalization, oscillating between feelings of connection and separation.…”