Maternal emotion dysregulation is related to heightened mother-infant synchrony of facial affect.

A heightened synchrony between the mother's and infant's facial affect predicts adverse infant development. We know that maternal psychopathology is related to mother-infant facial affect synchrony, but it is unclear how maternal psychopathology is transmitted to mother-infant synchrony. One pathway might be maternal emotion dysregulation. We examined (a) whether maternal emotion dysregulation is positively related to facial affect synchrony and (b) whether maternal emotion dysregulation mediates the effect of maternal psychopathology on mother-infant facial affect synchrony. We observed 68 mothers with mood disorders and their 4- to 9-month-old infants in the Still-Face paradigm during two play interactions. The mother's and infant's facial affect were rated from high negative to high positive, and the degree of synchrony between the mother's and infant's facial affect was computed with a time-series analysis. Emotion dysregulation was measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and psychopathology was assessed with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Higher maternal emotion dysregulation was significantly associated with higher facial affect synchrony; emotion dysregulation fully mediated the effect of maternal psychopathology on facial affect synchrony. Our findings demonstrate that maternal emotion dysregulation rather than maternal psychopathology per se places mothers and infants at risk for heightened facial affect synchrony.

Gaze Synchrony between Mothers with Mood Disorders and Their Infants: Maternal Emotion Dysregulation Matters.

A lowered and heightened synchrony between the mother's and infant's nonverbal behavior predicts adverse infant development. We know that maternal depressive symptoms predict lowered and heightened mother-infant gaze synchrony, but it is unclear whether maternal emotion dysregulation is related to mother-infant gaze synchrony. This cross-sectional study examined whether maternal emotion dysregulation in mothers with mood disorders is significantly related to mother-infant gaze synchrony. We also tested whether maternal emotion dysregulation is relatively more important than maternal depressive symptoms in predicting mother-infant gaze synchrony, and whether maternal emotion dysregulation mediates the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and mother-infant gaze synchrony. We observed 68 mothers and their 4- to 9-month-old infants in the Still-Face paradigm during two play interactions, before and after social stress was induced. The mothers' and infants' gaze behaviors were coded using microanalysis with the Maternal Regulatory Scoring System and Infant Regulatory Scoring System, respectively. The degree of mother-infant gaze synchrony was computed using time-series analysis. Maternal emotion dysregulation was measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory. Greater maternal emotion dysregulation was significantly related to heightened mother-infant gaze synchrony. The overall effect of maternal emotion dysregulation on mother-infant gaze synchrony was relatively more important than the effect of maternal depressive symptoms in the five tested models. Maternal emotion dysregulation fully mediated the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and mother-infant gaze synchrony. Our findings suggest that the effect of the mother's depressive symptoms on the mother-infant gaze synchrony may be mediated by the mother's emotion dysregulation.

Observational tools for measuring parent-infant interaction: a systematic review.

The quality of the parent-infant interaction is essential for the infant's development and is most objectively measured by observation. The existing observational tools for assessing parent-infant interaction were identified and described, and their psychometric soundness was evaluated. Twenty electronic databases from inception through June 2013 were searched. Validity was evaluated in five domains (test content, response process, internal structure, relations to other variables, and consequences). Of the 23,961 citations identified, 24 tools were included. Most tools demonstrated a valid rating procedure, reproducibility, and discriminant validity, based on studies with credible quality. The tools lacked factorial and predictive validity, and standardized norms. Further refinement of the existing tools is needed, particularly in the domains of content validity and consequential validity. The synthesized validity evidence and descriptions of the tools reported in this review might guide clinicians and researchers in the selection of an appropriate tool.