A transactional model of infant still‐face response and maternal behavior during the first year

• Published in: Infancy 2019-09, Vol.24 (5), p.787-806
• Main Authors: Northrup, Jessie B., Ridley, Julia, Foley, Katie, Moses‐Kolko, Eydie L., Keenan, Kate, Hipwell, Alison E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Babies; Behavior; Child Rearing; Infant Behavior; Mothers; Parents; Parents & parenting; Structural Equation Models; Young Children
• ISSN: 1525-0008; 1532-7078
• DOI: 10.1111/infa.12306

The present study takes a transactional approach to extend understanding of temporal relations between parenting behaviors and infant response to the face‐to‐face still‐face, a widely used method assessing infants’ affective and behavioral response to a violation of social expectations. A low‐income, urban sample of 180 mothers and infants participated when infants were 4 and 6 months old. Directional relations between infants’ still‐face response (i.e., change in affect and gaze from interaction to still face) and three parenting dimensions were examined using cross‐lagged structural equation models. Infant still‐face response predicted later parenting behavior, while the reverse association was not significant. Specifically, infants with a greater reduction in positive affect from interaction to still face had parents with more positive parenting and less negative parenting behaviors 2 months later, controlling for prior parenting and concurrent infant behavior. Furthermore, infants who increased gaze to mother from interaction to still face had mothers who used more mental state talk 2 months later. Findings underscore the importance of examining transactional relations between infant and parent behaviors, and in particular highlight the influence of infants on parents. Acknowledging these infant‐effects is critical to the development and implementation of interventions targeting parent‐infant interactions.