Maternal sensitivity during infancy and the regulation of startle in preschoolers.
Attach Hum Dev
; 22(2): 207-224, 2020 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30406719
ABSTRACT
Caregiving insensitivity and fear dysregulation predict anxiety symptoms in children. It is unclear, however, whether sensitive parental care during infancy predicts fear regulation later in childhood. To address this question, we asked whether observed maternal sensitivity, measured at 6 months, predicts 42-month-old children's laboratory-induced fear responses (n=213) during a fear-eliciting episode. We predicted that higher levels of maternal sensitivity would be associated with greater fear regulation. We operationalized fear regulation as decreases in fear over repeated trials of a novel, potentially frightening, stimulus. Two aspects of fear responses were considered expressed fear and startle. Expressed fear scores did not decrease over time but children exhibited less startle behavior in the second half of the task. Maternal sensitivity predicted this startle attenuation across trials. These findings highlight the contribution of maternal sensitivity during infancy to the development of fear regulation in early childhood, further suggesting its influence on offspring anxiety problems.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ansiedade
/
Medo
/
Regulação Emocional
/
Relações Mãe-Filho
/
Mães
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Attach Hum Dev
Assunto da revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
MEDICINA SOCIAL
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Singapura