Pleasure in parenting and father-child attachment security.

This study examined relations between father-child attachment security and both paternal sensitivity and fathers' pleasure in parenting. At 12 months of age sensitivity was coded from father-infant interactions and pleasure in parenting was coded from fathers' interviews assessing attitudes toward the parenting role. Father-child dyads participated in the Strange Situation Procedure assessing attachment relationship quality. Sensitivity was related to more pleasure in parenting, but neither variable alone predicted attachment security. However, pleasure in parenting moderated the association between sensitivity and attachment. Moreover, the concordance between sensitivity and pleasure in parenting differed markedly across attachment classifications. In secure relationships fathers showed strong concordance between sensitivity and pleasure in parenting. Fathers in avoidant relationships demonstrated high sensitivity coupled with low pleasure in parenting, whereas fathers in disorganized relationships showed low sensitivity coupled with high pleasure in parenting. Results speak to the importance of integrating cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of parenting in father-child attachment research.

Parenting and Cortisol in Infancy Interactively Predict Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Behaviors in Childhood.

This study examines observed maternal sensitivity, harsh-intrusion, and mental-state talk in infancy as predictors of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in middle childhood, as well as the extent to which infants' resting cortisol and cortisol reactivity moderate these associations. Using data from the Family Life Project (n = 1,292), results indicate that maternal sensitivity at 6 months predicts fewer CP at first grade, but only for infants who demonstrate high levels of cortisol reactivity. Maternal harsh intrusion predicts fewer empathic-prosocial behaviors, a component of CU behaviors, but only for infants who demonstrate high resting cortisol. Findings are discussed in the context of diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility models.

Vagal Regulation in Breastfeeding Infants and Their Mothers.

Consistent with the gustatory-vagal hypothesis, vagal stimulation during breastfeeding may contribute to infants' physiological regulatory development independent of caregiving effects. This study examined whether breastfeeding predicted 6-month-old infants' (N = 151) and their mothers' vagal regulation during the face-to-face still-face (FFSF). Although breastfed and nonbreastfed infants showed expected vagal withdrawal during the Still-Face episode, only breastfed infants showed continued withdrawal during the reunion episode, suggesting greater physiological mobilization to repair the interaction. Breastfeeding mothers showed higher vagal tone than nonbreastfeeding mothers at baseline, suggesting greater capacity for regulation, and throughout the FFSF, suggesting calmer states. Breastfeeding effects were independent of maternal sensitivity. Findings suggest that infants' and mothers' physiological regulation may be shaped by breastfeeding independently of associated social factors.

The Interaction Between Child Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and Early Sensitive Parenting in the Prediction of Children's Executive Functions.

This study investigated the interaction between children's parasympathetic functioning and maternal sensitive parenting behaviors during infancy and toddlerhood in the prediction of children's executive functions (EF) at the age of 5 years. Participants included 137 children and their mothers who were followed from the age of 3 months to 5 years. Children's cardiac activity was recorded at rest at multiple times from ages 3 to 36 months, and estimates of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; a measure of parasympathetic functioning) were calculated. Sensitive parenting was assessed during a mother-child play task at ages 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, and 5 years. Children completed age appropriate EF tasks at the age of 5 years. The link between sensitive parenting during toddlerhood (ages 24 and 36 months) and children's later EF was moderated by children's RSA such that this positive link was evident only among children who had low levels of baseline RSA, and not among those who had high levels of baseline RSA. These findings were obtained while controlling for concurrent sensitive parenting and maternal and child verbal abilities. Results from this study provide evidence for the significant role of biopsychosocial processes in early childhood in the development of EF.

Associations between early caregiving and rural, low-SES, African-American children's representations of attachment relationships.

Little research has examined the legacy of early maternal care for later attachment representations among low-income and ethnic minority school-aged children. Using data from a sample of 276 rural, low-income, African-American families, this study examined associations between maternal care in infancy and children's representations of attachment figures in middle childhood. Maternal care was coded from 10-min home-based observations at 6, 15, and 24 months of age. Representations of attachment figures were assessed using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task at 6 years of age. Sensitive maternal care in infancy was not significantly related to attachment security or episodic disorganized behaviors in children's representations. However, children exposed to more harsh-intrusive parenting during infancy displayed less secure representations of attachment figures in middle childhood and more episodic disorganized behaviors, even after controlling for numerous child and family contextual covariates. Findings inform conceptualizations of attachment formation among rural, low-income, African-American parent-child dyads.

Infant attachment disorganization and moderation pathways to level and change in externalizing behavior during preschool ages.

This research examined the child, parent, and family conditions under which attachment disorganization was related to both level and change in externalizing behavior during preschool among a community sample. Using the ordinary least squares regression, we found that attachment disorganization at 12 months significantly predicted children's externalizing behavior at 36 months and this prediction was not contingent on any other factors tested. For predicting changes in externalizing behavior from 36 to 60 months, we found a significant main effect of family cumulative risk and an interaction effect between attachment disorganization at 12 months and maternal sensitivity at 24 months. Specifically, high disorganization was related to a significant decrease in externalizing behavior from 36 to 60 months when maternal sensitivity at 24 months was high. Our main-effect findings replicated the significant effect of attachment disorganization and cumulative risk on externalizing behavior with preschool-aged children. Our interaction finding provided support for understanding the parenting conditions under which infant attachment disorganization may be related to change in externalizing behavior during preschool ages. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Mothers' and Fathers' Sensitivity and Children's Cognitive Development in Low-Income, Rural Families.

This study examines associations between maternal and paternal sensitive parenting and child cognitive development across the first 3 years of life using longitudinal data from 630 families with co-residing biological mothers and fathers. Sensitive parenting was measured by observational coding of parent-child interactions and child cognitive development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence. There were multiple direct and indirect associations between parenting and cognitive development across mothers and fathers, suggesting primary effects, carry-forward effects, spillover effects across parents, and transactional effects across parents and children. Associations between parenting and cognitive development were statistically consistent across mothers and fathers, and the cumulative effects of early parenting on later cognitive development were comparable to the effects of later parenting on later cognitive development. As interpreted through a family systems framework, findings suggest additive and interdependent effects across parents and children.

The Interdependence of Adult Relationship Quality and Parenting Behaviours among African American and European Couples in Rural, Low-Income Communities.

The present study extends the spillover and crossover hypotheses to more carefully model the potential interdependence between parent-parent interaction quality and parent-child interaction quality in family systems. Using propensity score matching, the present study attempted to isolate family processes that are unique across African American and European American couples that are independent of other socio-demographic factors to further clarify how interparental relationships may be related to parenting in a rural, low-income sample. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), a statistical analysis technique that accounts for the interdependence of relationship data, was used with a sample of married and non-married cohabiting African American and European American couples (n = 82 dyads) to evaluate whether mothers' and fathers' observed parenting behaviours are related to their behaviours and their partner's behaviours observed in a couple problem-solving interaction. Findings revealed that interparental withdrawal behaviour, but not conflict behaviour, was associated with less optimal parenting for fathers but not mothers, and specifically so for African American fathers. Our findings support the notion of interdependence across subsystems within the family and suggest that African American fathers may be specifically responsive to variations in interparental relationship quality.

Association between Maternal sensitivity and Externalizing Behavior from Preschool to Preadolescence.

Using data from the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N=1364), this study examined the association between mothers' sensitivity and children's externalizing behavior from preschool to preadolescence. Externalizing behavior declined on average across this period with a slowing of this decline around middle childhood. Maternal sensitivity remained relatively stable on average, and there was significant variation across mothers. A decrease in maternal sensitivity from ages 3 to 11 was related to an increase in externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 12. A model-based test of the direction of the effect suggested that the association between changes in maternal sensitivity and externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 11 was driven by child effects on mothers and not vice-versa. Between late preschool age and preadolescence, the behavior problems of children appear to strongly influence the sensitive support of mothers. Practical implications were discussed in light of these findings.

Maternal sensitivity buffers the adrenocortical implications of intimate partner violence exposure during early childhood.

This study prospectively examined the effect of intimate partner violence (IPV) on adrenocortical reactivity and recovery during early childhood. The sample (n = 1102 mother-infant dyads; 49.2% male) was racially diverse and from predominantly low-income, rural communities. To measure IPV exposure mothers completed the Conflicts Tactics Scale, and her caretaking behaviors were observed when her child was approximately 7, 15, and 24 months of age. Children's saliva samples, later assayed for cortisol, were collected around challenge tasks designed to elicit emotional reactivity. IPV was related to a trajectory of increased cortisol reactivity from infancy to toddlerhood. By contrast, the trajectory for non-IPV-exposed children decreased in cortisol reactivity across 7 to 24 months of age. At the 24-month assessment, on average, toddlers did not exhibit a cortisol reaction; however, those exposed to high levels of violence continued to have reactivity. Accumulative levels of IPV across the first 2 years of life predicted cortisol reactivity at 24 months of age. Early (7-month) sensitive maternal behavior moderated this relationship, so that only children exposed to both early insensitivity and high accumulated IPV exhibited increased reactivity at the 24-month assessment. Findings are discussed in relation to the risky family framework.

Interparental aggression, attention skills, and early childhood behavior problems.

The current study explored longitudinal associations between interparental aggression, the development of child attention skills, and early childhood behavior problems in a diverse sample of 636 families living in predominately low-income, nonmetropolitan communities. The results of latent-variable, cross-lagged longitudinal models revealed that maternal-reported interparental aggression in infancy predicted reduced observed attention skills in toddlerhood; no association was observed, however, between attention in infancy and interparental aggression during the toddler years. Further, reduced toddler attention and high interparental aggression were both associated with increased risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and conduct problems at 3 years of age. Processes largely operated in similar ways regardless of child gender or low-income status, although a few differences were observed. Overall, the results suggest that interparental aggression undermines attention development, putting children's early behavioral adjustment at risk.

Systems theory and cascades in developmental psychopathology.

In the wake of prominent theoreticians in developmental science, whose contributions we review in this article, many developmental psychologists came to endorse a systems approach to understanding how the individual, as it develops, establishes functional relationships to social ecological contexts that from birth to school entry rapidly increase in complexity. The concept of developmental cascade has been introduced in this context to describe lawful processes by which antecedent conditions may be related with varying probabilities to specified outcomes. These are understood as processes by which function at one level or in one domain of behavior affect the organization of competency in later developing domains of general adaptation. Here we propose a developmental sequence by which the developing child acquires regulative capacities that are key to adjustment to a society that demands considerable control of emotional and cognitive functions early in life. We report empirical evidence showing that the acquisition of regulative capacities may be understood as a cascade of shifts in control parameters induced by the progressive integration of biological, transactional, and socioaffective systems over development. We conclude by suggesting how the developmental process may be accessed for effective intervention in populations deemed "at risk" for later problems of psychosocial adjustment.

Mother-infant vagal regulation in the face-to-face still-face paradigm is moderated by maternal sensitivity.

Parents' physiological regulation may support infants' regulation. Mothers (N= 152) and 6-month-old male and female infants were observed in normal and disrupted social interaction. Affect was coded at 1-s intervals and vagal tone measured as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Maternal sensitivity was assessed in free play. Mothers and infants showed opposite patterns of RSA change. During disrupted interaction, mothers' RSA increased and infants' decreased, suggesting self-regulation of distress. During reunion, although the typical pattern was for infants to return to baseline levels, infants of sensitive mothers and sensitive mothers both showed a significant decrease in RSA from baseline. Mothers' and infants' physiological responses may be a function of mutual responsiveness.

Psychophysiological correlates of parenting behavior in mothers of young children.

This study investigated HPA and vagal functioning as correlates of parenting in mothers of 175 six-month-old children. Salivary cortisol indexed HPA functioning and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reduction indexed vagal regulation. Positive engagement and negative intrusiveness were observed during the Face-to-Face Still Face Paradigm (FFSFP) reunion and a semi-structured free play episode. Mixed modeling was used to examine differences in maternal behaviors across contexts as a function of psychophysiology. Main effects of cortisol levels, as well as interactions with RSA reduction and context, predicted negative intrusiveness. Mothers with high cortisol exhibited more negative intrusiveness if they also had lower RSA reduction. Mothers were also less negatively intrusive during the FFSFP than the free play if they had lower cortisol levels. There were no associations between psychophysiological measures and positive engagement. The findings suggest: (1) that parenting behaviors are associated with maternal stress physiology; (2) considerations of single physiological systems related to parenting behaviors may be incomplete; and (3) type and context of behaviors must be considered when examining biobehavioral associations with parenting.

Parasympathetic and sympathetic responses to the strange situation in infants and mothers from avoidant and securely attached dyads.

Vagal reactivity and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) were assessed in infants (M age = 13.55 months) and their mothers during the Strange Situation Paradigm (SSP) to investigate differences in physiological responses in a sample of insecure-avoidant and securely-attached dyads (N = 132). Infants classified as insecure-avoidant had significantly higher vagal withdrawal during the SSP and higher sAA overall, suggesting that the avoidant attachment pattern is associated with a greater allostatic load. During separation episodes of the SSP, all mothers showed significant vagal withdrawal, suggesting greater attempts at regulation. During the last reunion, typically the most stressful episode for infants, mothers of secure infants showed greater vagal withdrawal than mothers of insecure-avoidant infants, suggesting greater attempts by these mothers at interactive repair. Results for mothers and infants supported the allostatic load theory.

Changes in maternal sensitivity across the first three years: are mothers from different attachment dyads differentially influenced by depressive symptomatology?

Hierarchical linear modeling was used to describe longitudinal relations between maternal sensitivity and depressive symptomatology for mothers of children with differing attachment classifications at 36 months of child age using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Attachment during toddlerhood was assessed using a modified Strange Situation Paradigm developed by the MacArthur Working Group on Attachment. On average, maternal sensitivity increased longitudinally from 6 to 36 months for groups with children classified as secure or resistant, but not for groups classified as avoidant or disorganized. Higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower levels of sensitivity for all mothers, although this effect was significantly less severe for mothers of securely attached children. In addition, higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with decreases in sensitivity from 6 to 36 months for mothers of children who at 36 months showed disorganized attachments combined with underlying patterns of avoidant or resistant behavior.

Pathways from infant exposure to marital conflict to parent-toddler role reversal.

We know that exposure to marital conflict places infants at risk, but we know less about processes. One process may be role reversal, when a distressed parent looks to the child to meet unmet needs for comfort, intimacy, or companionship. A parent in marital conflict may be particularly prone to role reversal, which in turn adversely affects child development. The current study examined pathways from infants' exposure to marital conflict at 12 months to role reversal at 24 months. We sampled low-middle socioeconomic status (SES) families with their first child (N = 128). Independent observers assessed marital conflict (in a problem-solving task) and role reversal (in a story-telling task). We found that each parent's conflict behavior predicted the other parent's role reversal. In a direct pathway, mother's conflict behavior towards father led directly to father's role reversal with the child. In an indirect pathway, father's conflict behavior towards mother led to his withdrawal from her, which in turn led to mother's role reversal with the child. Clinical implications are discussed within a developmental psychopathology framework in terms of preventive interventions to offset the deleterious effect of marital conflict and role reversal on child development.