Structured Task Versus Free Play: The Influence of Social Context on Parenting Quality, Toddlers’ Engagement with Parents and Play Behaviors, and Parent–Toddler Language Use

Maternal History of Adversity and Subsequent Mother-Child Interactions at Early Ages: A Systematic Review

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can negatively impact physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development, consequently affecting the next generation. The aim of the present study was to systematically review evidence from empirical studies on the association between maternal history of adversity in childhood (maltreatment and household dysfunction) and subsequent mother-child interactions at an early age. A search was performed in the PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, LILACS, and SciELO databases to identify studies, including measures of maternal childhood adversities and mother-child interaction, published between 2016 and 2022. Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. The results showed that in 90% of the studies, maternal childhood adversities negatively impacted subsequent mother-child interactions in early childhood, reducing maternal displays of affection, emotional availability, sensitivity, mother-child communication, and bonding. Biological factors (e.g., genetic and hormonal) and maternal emotional recognition moderated these associations. In addition, biological factors (i.e., neurobiological and hormonal) and psychosocial factors (e.g., depression, executive functioning, and violence) acted as mediators. Preventive interventions should be implemented to break out of the intergenerational cycle of violence that impacts mother-child interactions.

Mother-infant emotional availability through the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations

The COVID-19 pandemic may impact the development of infants' social communication patterns with their caregivers. The current study examined continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations in maternal and infant dyadic Emotional Availability (EA) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 110 Israeli mother-infant dyads (51% girls) that were assessed prior to (Mage = 3.5 months) and during (Mage = 12.4 months) the pandemic. At both time points, mother-infant interactions were observed during play (nonstressful context) and tasks designed to elicit infant frustration (stressful context). Maternal and child EA were coded offline. Maternal EA demonstrated no significant mean-level changes from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas infant responsiveness and involvement increased over time. Stability and bidirectional associations in EA differed by context and were evident only in the stressful context. Mothers' perceived levels of social support further moderated these associations. Specifically, infants' pre-pandemic responsiveness and involvement predicted maternal EA during the pandemic only when mothers reported low levels of social support. Our findings suggest that maternal and child EA were not adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, patterns of EA demonstrated moderate-to-no stability over time, suggesting considerable individual differences in trajectories of EA.

Parenting of Spanish mothers and fathers playing with their children at home

The aims of this study were to compare the parenting behaviors of mothers and fathers when evaluated in a free play situation at home and to study how these behaviors were related to the sociodemographic variables of the family. The study included 155 mothers and 155 fathers from the same families in Spain. The children (90 boys and 65 girls) were typically developing and were aged between 10 and 47 months old. The parents completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, and parenting behaviors in four domains (Affection, Responsiveness, Encouragement, and Teaching) were assessed from self-recorded videotapes, in accordance with the Spanish version of the PICCOLO. Our results showed both commonalities and differences between the mothers and fathers. The mean scores for the four parenting domains followed a similar pattern in both mothers and fathers: the highest mean score was in the Responsiveness domain, followed by the Affection, Encouragement, and the Teaching domains. Regarding the second aim, no differences were observed in parenting according to the child’s gender and the only domain related to the child’s age was mother’s Teaching. Mothers with a higher educational level scored higher on all parenting domains, except for Responsiveness. Family income was positively related to maternal Affection, Encouragement, and the total PICCOLO score, and to the father’s score in the Teaching domain. This study provides evidence that Spanish mothers and fathers show very similar strengths for promoting children’s development during interactions. These results are relevant to inform social public policies and family programs.

Maternal Sensitivity Modulates Child's Parasympathetic Mode and Buffers Sympathetic Activity in a Free Play Situation

Background

Behavioral and physiological (self-)regulation in early life is crucial for the understanding of childhood development and adjustment. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a main player in the regulative system and should therefore be modulated by the quality of interactive behavior of the caregiver. We experimentally investigated the ANS response of 18–36-month-old children in response to the quality of maternal behavior during a mother–child-interacting paradigm.

Method

Eighty mothers and their children came to our laboratory and took part in an experimental paradigm, consisting of three episodes: a resting phase (E1), a structured play phase (E2), and a free play situation (E3) between mothers and their child. Children’s and mother’s heart rate (HR), the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity via the pre-ejection period (PEP) and the left ventricular ejection time (LVET), and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity via the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were continuously measured by an electrocardiogram. Maternal sensitivity of interactive behavior was assessed by using the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales.

Results

Children of mothers with insensitive behavior had a significantly lower RSA at baseline, showed a lack of RSA withdrawal during structured and free play, and had shorter LVET across all episodes compared to children of sensitive mothers.

Conclusion

Our findings depict the influence of low-quality maternal interaction on the child’s ANS regulation, in calm and more stressful play situations. The overall higher SNS mode with impaired PNS reactivity may negatively influence child’s ANS homoeostasis, which may result in a long-term impact on mental and physical wellbeing. Further, the maternal sensitivity may function as a buffer for the stress response of their child. These results could serve as a basis for the development of appropriate psychoeducational programs for mothers of low sensitivity in their interaction with the child.

Parenting Stress, Self-Efficacy, and Involvement: Effects on Spoken Language Ability Three Years After Cochlear Implantation

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated associations among parenting stress, self-efficacy, and involvement in relation to spoken language outcomes in young children 3 years following cochlear implantation.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

Six university tertiary medical centers.

PATIENTS

One hundred sixty-four young children with bilateral, severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss who had 3 years of experience with a CI; children with substantial cognitive impairments were excluded from the study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESS

Family Stress Scale (FSS), Scale of Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy (SPISE), Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS).

RESULTS

Correlations were of moderate strength between FSS scores and SPISE scores (Parental Self-Efficacy, r = -0.45, p < 0.01, Parental Involvement r = -0.32, p < 0.01). As hypothesized, parents reporting higher levels of stress reported lower perceptions of self-efficacy and involvement. In addition, results showed that family stress had a direct, negative effect on spoken language (-4.43 [95% confidence interval: -6.97; -1.89]). After controlling for maternal education and activation age, parental self-efficacy mediated the negative effect between family stress and spoken language (indirect effect = -1.91 [3.45; -0.69]; proportion mediated = 0.43). No mediating effects were found for parental involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the need for parenting interventions that focus on reducing stressors and increasing parents' perceptions of self-efficacy in families of children using cochlear implants. Integration of mental health screening and tailored parenting interventions in CI clinics may increase parental self-efficacy and involvement, with measurable benefits in the child's use of spoken language.

Culture at play: A cross-cultural comparison of mother-child communication during toy play

Maternal scaffolding and four-year-old children's linguistic skills were examined during toy play. Participants were 21 American-English monolingual and 21 Thai monolingual mother-child dyads. Results revealed cross-cultural differences in conversation styles between the two groups. American dyads adopted a high-elaborative style relative to Thai dyads. American and Thai mothers utilized unique sets of elicitation strategies to facilitate different aspects of children's language development, specifically American mothers focused on children's narrative skills whereas Thai mothers emphasized vocabulary learning. The two groups of children showed distinct patterns of conversation, for example American children produced greater evaluative statements whereas Thai children repeated their mothers' utterances more, which aligned with socialization goals of each respective culture. Mother-child narrative styles also differed as a function of child gender. Additionally, significant positive correlations were observed between maternal and child linguistic measures. These findings provide evidence for cross-cultural variation in communicative styles and toy play practices of American and Thai mother-child dyads, which reflect the social norms of individualistic and collectivist cultures. More broadly, the present study suggests that dyadic engagement during play is important for children's development and socialization, as maternal speech transfers knowledge of culture-specific pragmatic rules that the children learn to apply in social interactions.

A Systematic Review of Father-Child Play Interactions and the Impacts on Child Development

Father-child play engagement has been linked to a variety of child developmental outcomes. However, the most prevalent types of play and child developmental outcomes utilised in research remains unclear. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on father-child play interactions and the association with child developmental outcomes for children aged 0-10 years. Database searches generated 1622 abstracts that matched the specified search criteria. Abstract screening and full-text review resulted in 39 included publications. The systematic review revealed that while some paternal play behaviours resulted in different impacts across play types, others reported similar impacts. The findings of this review have implications for potential interventions and parenting resources.

Childhood maltreatment moderates the relationship between emotion recognition and maternal sensitive behaviors

BACKGROUND

Sensitivity is defined as parents ability to perceive, react and respond to children signals. Having a history of childhood maltreatment changes the way adults perceive visual emotions. These perceptual characteristics could have important consequences on how these parents respond to their children.

OBJECTIVE

The current study examines how a history of childhood maltreatment moderates the relationship between maternal emotion recognition in child faces and sensitive behaviors toward their child during free-play and a structured task.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants included 58 mothers and their children aged between 2 and 5 years.

METHODS

Mothers were exposed to a set of photographs of child faces showing morphed images of the six basic emotional expressions. Mother-child interactions were then coded for sensitive behaviors. Mothers' history of childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Maltreatment severity was related to poorer abilities in emotion recognition. However, the association between emotion recognition and sensitive behavior was moderate by history of childhood maltreatment. For mothers exposed to a severe form of childhood maltreatment, a better emotion recognition was related to less sensitive behaviors toward the child, both during free-play and the structured task.

CONCLUSION

This relationship is unique to these mothers and is inconsistent with Ainsworth's definition of sensitivity. These results have important implications as they suggest mothers with a history of severe maltreatment would need tailored interventions which take into account their particular reactions to children's emotions.

Infant language predicts fathers' vocabulary in infant-directed speech

Research on sources of individual difference in parental Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) is limited and there is a particular lack of research on fathers' compared to mothers' speech. This study examined the predictive relations between infant characteristics and variability in paternal lexical diversity (LD) in dyadic free play with two-year-olds (M = 24.1 months, SD = 1.39, 35 girls). Ten minutes of interaction for sixty-four father-infant dyads were transcribed and multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of a set of distal and proximal sources of infant influence on paternal LD. Fathers' LD was predicted only by infant language, both standardised language scores and dynamic language measures, and was not predicted by infant age, gender, executive function, or temperament. Findings are discussed in the light of the complex interplay of factors contributing to variability in IDS and the infant's linguistic environment.

An inquiry into how parents of children with autism spectrum disorder interact with their children in a motor skill-based play setting

BACKGROUND

Most studies examining parental behaviors of parents of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children have taken place in free play settings and have primarily focused on examining social behaviors. Motor skill-based play settings, which are distinctly different from free play settings, have not been explicitly studied as it relates to parental behaviors in these environments.

AIMS

The purpose of this study was to examine parental behaviors of parents of children with and without ASD in two distinctly different play settings.

METHODS

Parental behaviors of eighteen parents of children with (n = 9) and without ASD (n = 9) were examined by observation in different play settings (free play [a social-play/traditional play based setting] and a motor skill-based play setting). The examined parental behaviors included parental encouragement, negativity, sensitivity, detachment, and intrusiveness. A 2 × 2 (group × play setting) repeated measures of ANOVA was conducted to examine the main effect of group (TD vs ASD) and play setting (a social-play based setting and a motor skill-based setting) and the interaction effect between group and play setting on parental behaviors. Post-hoc independent t-tests between groups in each setting were conducted to follow-up on significant interactions indicated in the repeated measures of ANOVA RESULTS: The repeated measures ANOVA revealed that parental encouragement showed a significant interaction effect, suggesting that the effect of group on parental encouragement depended on play setting. A post-hoc analysis revealed that parents of children with ASD showed statistically significant lower parental encouragement in a motor skill-based play setting but not in a social-play based setting compared to parents of TD children. Moreover, there was a main effect of group (parents of children with ASD vs. parents of TD children) on parental intrusiveness indicating that the mean parental intrusiveness on children with ASD was significantly higher than parents of TD children across both play settings. There were no statistically significant main or interaction effects on the other parental behaviors (parental negativity, sensitivity, and detachment) between groups.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The current study indicated parental encouragement differences between parents of children with ASD and parents of TD children varied based on the play setting. These results identify a need to examine parental behaviors, especially parental encouragement and parental intrusiveness across various types of play settings. Furthermore, as parents of children with ASD displayed lower parental encouragement in a motor skill-based play setting compared to parents of TD children, future studies are warranted to improve parental encouragement of parents of children with ASD in a motor skill-based play setting.

Maternal behaviors in toddlerhood as predictors of children's private speech in preschool

Private speech is an important strategy reflecting children's self-regulation, and thus understanding how parenting may support private speech can inform intervention work on improving self-regulation. The current study longitudinally investigated how sensitive parenting and directive parenting in toddlerhood interacted to predict preschoolers' private speech in an emotion-eliciting task. In toddlerhood, maternal parenting behaviors were observed during two freeplay sessions. Preschoolers' social and private speech were transcribed and coded during a frustration task. Whereas parenting did not relate to other forms of private speech, preschoolers' facilitative task-relevant private speech was predicted by the interaction of mothers' sensitive and directive behaviors. When sensitivity was high, parents who were less directive had children who used more facilitative task-relevant private speech. These findings highlight that children's regulation may be supported through the combination of high sensitivity and low directiveness when parents and children are engaged in unstructured play together.