1
|
Doyle FL, Dickson SJ, Eapen V, Frick PJ, Kimonis ER, Hawes DJ, Moul C, Richmond JL, Mehta D, Dadds MR. Towards Preventative Psychiatry: Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors of Postnatal Maternal-Infant Bonding. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2023; 54:1723-1736. [PMID: 35616764 PMCID: PMC10582133 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-022-01365-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Maternal-infant bonding is important for children's positive development. Poor maternal-infant bonding is a risk factor for negative mother and infant outcomes. Although researchers have examined individual predictors of maternal-infant bonding, studies typically do not examine several concurrent and longitudinal predictors within the same model. This study aimed to evaluate the unique and combined predictive power of cross-sectional and longitudinal predictors of maternal-infant bonding. Participants were 372 pregnant women recruited from an Australian hospital. Data were collected from mothers at antenatal appointments (T0), following their child's birth (T1), and at a laboratory assessment when their child was 5-11-months-old (T2). Poorer bonding at T2 was predicted at T0 by younger maternal age, higher education, and higher antenatal depressive symptoms. Poorer bonding at T2 was predicted at T1 by younger maternal age, higher education, and higher postnatal depressive symptoms. Poorer bonding at T2 was predicted at T2 by younger maternal age, higher education, higher postnatal depression symptoms, higher concurrent perceived social support, and more difficult infant temperament, when controlling for child age at T2. To promote positive maternal-infant bonding, global and targeted interventions in the perinatal period may benefit from targeting maternal psychopathology, perceived lack of social support, and coping with difficult infant temperament.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frances L. Doyle
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney, NSW Australia
- School of Psychology; MARCS Institute for Brain Behaviour and Development; Transforming early Education And Child Health Research Centre, Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, 2750 Penrith, NSW Australia
| | - Sophie J. Dickson
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney, NSW Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, 2109 Sydney, NSW Australia
| | - Valsamma Eapen
- School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, 2052 Kensington, NSW Australia
| | - Paul J. Frick
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, 70803 Baton Rouge, LA USA
| | - Eva R. Kimonis
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, 2052 Kensington, NSW Australia
| | - David J. Hawes
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney, NSW Australia
| | - Caroline Moul
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney, NSW Australia
| | - Jenny L. Richmond
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, 2052 Kensington, NSW Australia
| | - Divya Mehta
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Faculty of Health, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, 4059 Brisbane, Queensland Australia
| | - Mark R. Dadds
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney, NSW Australia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Doyle FL, Klein L, Kemp LJ, Moul C, Richmond JL, Eapen V, Frick PJ, Kimonis ER, Hawes DJ, Le Pelley ME, Mehta D, Dadds MR. Learning to like triangles: A longitudinal investigation of evaluative conditioning in infancy. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22244. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.22244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Frances L. Doyle
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, School of Psychology Western Sydney University Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Louis Klein
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
- Mental Health Academic Unit Liverpool Hospital, SWS‐LHD Liverpool New South Wales Australia
| | - Lindsay J. Kemp
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Caroline Moul
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Jenny L. Richmond
- School of Psychology University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Valsamma Eapen
- Mental Health Academic Unit Liverpool Hospital, SWS‐LHD Liverpool New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Paul J. Frick
- Department of Psychology Louisiana State University Baton Rouge Louisiana USA
| | - Eva R. Kimonis
- School of Psychology University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - David J. Hawes
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Mike E. Le Pelley
- School of Psychology University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Divya Mehta
- School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Queensland Australia
| | - Mark R. Dadds
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sympathetic nervous system functioning during the face-to-face still-face paradigm in the first year of life. Dev Psychopathol 2021; 35:471-480. [PMID: 34924094 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579421001553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary theories of early development and emerging child psychopathology all posit a major, if not central role for physiological responsiveness. To understand infants' potential risk for emergent psychopathology, consideration is needed to both autonomic reactivity and environmental contexts (e.g., parent-child interactions). The current study maps infants' arousal during the face-to-face still-face paradigm using skin conductance (n = 255 ethnically-diverse mother-infant dyads; 52.5% girls, mean infant age = 7.4 months; SD = 0.9 months). A novel statistical approach was designed to model the potential build-up of nonlinear counter electromotive force over the course of the task. Results showed a significant increase in infants' skin conductance between the Baseline Free-play and the Still-Face phase, and a significant decrease in skin conductance during the Reunion Play when compared to the Still-Face phase. Skin conductance during the Reunion Play phase remained significantly higher than during the Baseline Play phase; indicating that infants had not fully recovered from the mild social stressor. These results further our understanding of infant arousal during dyadic interactions, and the role of caregivers in the development of emotion regulation during infancy.
Collapse
|
4
|
Sareen S, Doyle FL, Kemp LJ, Northam JC, Morgan BG, Kimonis ER, Richmond JL, Le Pelley ME, Eapen V, Frick PJ, Hawes DJ, Moul C, Mehta D, Dadds MR. Still connecting the dots: An investigation into infants' attentional bias to threat using an eye-tracking task. INFANCY 2021; 27:46-66. [PMID: 34846094 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
An attentional bias toward threat has been theorized to be a normative aspect of infants' threat and safety learning, and an indicator of risk for internalizing psychopathology in older populations. To date, only four studies have examined this bias using the dot-probe task in infancy and the findings are mixed. We extended the literature by examining patterns of attention to threat in a culturally and linguistically diverse sample of infants aged 5-11 months old (N = 151) using all measures previously employed in the infant dot-probe literature. Given that an attentional bias toward threat is associated with higher risk of developing anxiety disorders later in life, we also examined how negative affect-an early correlate of later anxiety disorders-is related to attentional bias toward threat in infancy. This study was the first to use a consistent measure of negative affect across the whole sample. An eye-tracking dot-probe task was used to examine attentional bias toward threat (i.e., angry faces) relative to positive (i.e., happy faces) stimuli. Results showed that an attention bias to threat was not characteristic of infants at this age, and negative affect did not moderate the putative relationship between attention and emotional faces (angry, happy). These findings therefore suggest that attention biases to socio-emotional threat may not have emerged by 11 months old.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sinia Sareen
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Frances L Doyle
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
| | - Lindsay J Kemp
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jaimie C Northam
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Bronte G Morgan
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Eva R Kimonis
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jenny L Richmond
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Mike E Le Pelley
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Valsamma Eapen
- School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paul J Frick
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
| | - David J Hawes
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Caroline Moul
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Divya Mehta
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, Qld, Australia
| | - Mark R Dadds
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Pérez-Edgar K, LoBue V, Buss KA, Field AP. Study Protocol: Longitudinal Attention and Temperament Study. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:656958. [PMID: 34168577 PMCID: PMC8218812 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.656958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Attention processes may play a central role in shaping trajectories of socioemotional development. Individuals who are clinically anxious or have high levels of trait anxiety sometimes show attention biases to threat. There is emerging evidence that young children also demonstrate a link between attention bias to salient stimuli and broad socioemotional profiles. However, we do not have a systematic and comprehensive assessment of how attention biases, and associated neural and behavioral correlates, emerge and change from infancy through toddlerhood. This paper describes the Longitudinal Attention and Temperament study (LAnTs), which is designed to target these open questions. Method: The current study examines core components of attention across the first 2 years of life, as well as measures of temperament, parental psychosocial functioning, and biological markers of emotion regulation and anxiety risk. The demographically diverse sample (N = 357) was recruited from the area surrounding State College, PA, Harrisburg, PA, and Newark, NJ. Infants and parents are assessed at 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months. Assessments include repeated measures of attention bias (via eye-tracking) in both infants and parents, and measures of temperament (reactivity, negative affect), parental traits (e.g., anxiety and depression), biological markers (electrophysiology, EEG, and respiratory sinus arrythmia, RSA), and the environment (geocoding, neighborhood characteristics, perceived stress). Outcomes include temperamental behavioral inhibition, social behavior, early symptom profiles, and cellular aging (e.g., telomere length). Discussion: This multi-method study aims to identify biomarkers and behavioral indicators of attentional and socioemotional trajectories. The current study brought together innovative measurement techniques to capture the earliest mechanisms that may be causally linked to a pervasive set of problem behaviors. The analyses the emerge from the study will address important questions of socioemotional development and help shape future research. Analyses systematically assessing attention bias patterns, as well as socioemotional profiles, will allow us to delineate the time course of any emerging interrelations. Finally, this study is the first to directly assess competing models of the role attention may play in socioemotional development in the first years of life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Koraly Pérez-Edgar
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Vanessa LoBue
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, United States
| | - Kristin A Buss
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Andy P Field
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | | |
Collapse
|