A Transactional Model of Infant Still-Face Response and Maternal Behavior During the First Year

Is parental depression related to parental mentalizing? A systematic review and three-level meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis is aimed to summarize the state of research on the relation between parental depression and parental mentalizing. To account for the multifaceted nature of parental mentalizing, several conceptualizations and measures were included and compared. The last database search was conducted on March 13, 2023. Using three-level meta-analytic modelling, we analyzed a total of 12,665 participants from 63 studies with 233 effect sizes. Taken together, higher depression was only weakly associated with lower mentalizing (r = -0.06). Specifically, parents with higher depression scored lower on questionnaire measures of parental reflective functioning (r = -0.11). No significant correlations were found for interview measures of parental reflective functioning, the observational and interview measure of mind-mindedness, or insightfulness. The data showed substantial heterogeneity. The mean effect size for self-reported pre-mentalizing (r =  -0.23 for reverse-coded subscale scores) was significantly stronger compared to other self-report subscales. In studies including parents with diagnosis and controls, there was limited evidence suggesting a larger negative correlation between depression, mind-mindedness, and insightfulness. Therefore, more research is needed in clinical samples. Due to their correlational nature, our results do not allow causal inferences. Future studies should target moderators that explain variability (e.g., comorbid psychological problems, coparenting, child behavior).

Preconception interpersonal personality features predict postpartum maternal parenting behaviors

Individual differences in personality traits affect the quality of social relationships. The parent-child relationship is among the most impactful social relationships in an individual's life, and positive parenting behaviors are known to support positive child development. The present study aimed to identify personality predictors-measured prior to conception at age 16-on later positive parenting behaviors. Young women (n = 207; 83.5% Black or multiracial; 86.9% receiving public assistance) who were followed since childhood as part of a prospective longitudinal study were observed interacting with their infants 4 months postpartum. We tested prospective associations between personality factors relevant to the quality and maintenance of social relationships-empathy, callousness, and rejection sensitivity-and coded dimensions of parenting behavior: maternal warmth, responsiveness, and mental state talk. We additionally examined potential moderating effects of infant affect on the relations between personality and parenting behavior. Results indicated that preconception empathy predicted later maternal warmth and responsivity, whereas preconception callousness was inversely associated with maternal warmth. The association between rejection sensitivity and maternal mental state talk was moderated by infant affect, consistent with a "goodness-of-fit" framework. The present study is the first to our knowledge to report associations between preconception personality and later parenting behaviors. The findings suggest that a woman's personality traits in adolescence, potentially years before she becomes a mother, can predict her behavior during interactions with her infant. Clinically, findings suggest the potential for interventions in adolescence to influence later parenting behavior and ultimately impact children's developmental outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Within-dyad bidirectional relations among maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems from infancy through preschool

Although dyadic theory focuses on the impact of a mother's mental health on her own child and the impact of a child's mental health on their own mother, commonly used statistical approaches are incapable of distinguishing the desired within-dyad processes from between-dyad effects. Using autoregressive latent trajectory modeling with structured residuals, the current study evaluated within-dyad, bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems from child age 1-4.5 years among a sample of low-income, Mexican American women (N = 322, Mage = 27.8) and their children. Women reported on maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems during laboratory visits at child age 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 4.5 years. Results provide novel evidence of child-driven bidirectional association between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at the within-dyad level as early as child age 1 year and within-person stability in child behavior problems emerging early in life.

Learning how to learn from social feedback: The origins of early vocal development

Infants' prelinguistic vocalizations reliably organize vocal turn-taking with social partners, creating opportunities for learning to produce the sound patterns of the ambient language. This social feedback loop supporting early vocal learning is well-documented, but its developmental origins have yet to be addressed. When do infants learn that their non-cry vocalizations influence others? To test developmental changes in infant vocal learning, we assessed the vocalizations of 2- and 5-month-old infants in a still-face interaction with an unfamiliar adult. During the still-face, infants who have learned the social efficacy of vocalizing increase their babbling rate. In addition, to assess the expectations for social responsiveness that infants build from their everyday experience, we recorded caregiver responsiveness to their infants' vocalizations during unstructured play. During the still-face, only 5-month-old infants showed an increase in vocalizing (a vocal extinction burst) indicating that they had learned to expect adult responses to their vocalizations. Caregiver responsiveness predicted the magnitude of the vocal extinction burst for 5-month-olds. Because 5-month-olds show a vocal extinction burst with unfamiliar adults, they must have generalized the social efficacy of their vocalizations beyond their familiar caregiver. Caregiver responsiveness to infant vocalizations during unstructured play was similar for 2- and 5-month-olds. Infants thus learn the social efficacy of their vocalizations between 2 and 5 months of age. During this time, infants build associations between their own non-cry sounds and the reactions of adults, which allows learning of the instrumental value of vocalizing.