This study investigated the development of the pointing-vocal coupling system. We were interested in the infants' behavior to attune prosody with pointing intentions. Twenty-five children were involved at 12, 15, and 18 months of age in an experimental procedure devised to elicit imperative and declarative pointing. Pointing, vocality associated with pointing, and the prosody of that vocality were analyzed. A significant increase in the coupling of pointing and vocality was observed from 12 to 15 months, and in the ability to differentiate prosody with respect to the intention of the gesture from 15 to 18 months. Also, the infants who pointed declaratively at 12 months were likely to couple declarative pointing with vocality at 15 months, and the infants who coupled at 15 months were likely to differentiate prosody by the pointing intention at 18 months. Results suggest that the match between prosody and pointing intentions emerges gradually during the first half of the second year of life. They also show a relationship between earlier and later pointing-vocal coupling, and a role for declarative communication in promoting that progression. Overall, our study supports the view of intentional communication as a time-based and context-based developmental process

The interplay of parenting and environmental sensitivity on children’s behavioral adjustment during, and immediately after, the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions was investigated in two longitudinal studies involving Italian preschoolers (Study 1, N = 72; 43% girls, Myears = 3.82(1.38)) and primary school children (Study 2, N = 94; 55% girls, Myears = 9.08(0.56)). Data were collected before and during the first-wave lockdown (Studies 1 and 2) and one month later (Study 1). Parental stress and parent–child closeness were measured. Markers of environmental sensitivity in children were temperamental fearfulness and Sensory Processing Sensitivity. Results showed little change in externalizing and internalizing behaviors over time, but differences emerged when considering parenting and children’s environmental sensitivity. In preschoolers, greater parenting stress was related to a stronger increase in internalizing and externalizing behaviors, with children high in fearful temperament showing a more marked decrease in externalizing behaviors when parenting stress was low. In school-aged children, parent–child closeness emerged as a protective factor for internalizing and externalizing behaviors during COVID-19, with children high in Sensory Processing Sensitivity showing a marked decrease in internalizing behaviors when closeness was high. Implications for developmental theory and practice in times of pandemic are discussed.

Infant-directed speech (IDS), the particular form of spontaneous language observed in interactions between parents and their infants, is a crucial aspect of the mother-infant interaction and an index of the attunement of maternal linguistic input to her infant communicative abilities and needs during dyadic interactions. The present study aimed to explore linguistic and pragmatic features of IDS during mother-infant interactions at 3-month of infant age. The effects of infant (birth status: preterm vs. full-term birth), maternal (perceived parenting stress) and dyadic (dyadic co-regulation) factors on IDS were explored. Results evidenced few differences between the groups on IDS linguistic characteristics. Moreover, observing the interaction of birth status and dyadic co-regulation, full-term mothers varied their IDS pragmatic features according to the quality of co-regulation while preterm mothers did not. Parenting stress was associated to specific linguistic IDS features independently from the birth status. Findings are discussed underling implications for the study of preterm dyads interactions and the importance to consider the interplay of several factors in affecting the quality of IDS.

This study examined interpersonal co‐regulation in 80 mother–infant dyads when interacting face‐to‐face and with an object, at the infant ages of 4 and 6 months. We found that co‐regulation patterns differed between conditions and with development. Under the dyadic condition, the dyads were mostly unilateral, with only the mother attending to the infant's focus, while in the triadic context, they were mostly symmetrical, with both mother and infant mutually engaged. While confirming previous studies showing that interpersonal co‐ordination is a relatively rare event in face‐to‐face exchanges, this result shows that the contrary is instead true when objects are available. Also, unilateral co‐regulation significantly increased in the triadic context from 4 to 6 months, together with an increase in the active role of the infant during symmetrical exchanges. The development of manipulative skills that occurred during this age period might have promoted these co‐regulation changes, through improvement of the infant activities with objects, both independently and with the mother. Finally, involvement in triadic interactions appears to relate to temperamental aspects, being favoured by the infant's disposition to be soothed by the caregiver. Overall, our results support the view of early social development as a context‐based and multidimensional process. Highlights Investigation of how mothers and infants co‐regulate in face‐to‐face interactions and with toys in the first 6 months of life. Eighty mother–infant dyads are observed longitudinally in dyadic and triadic interactions at 4 and 6 months of age. Social‐mediated object exchanges favour symmetrical co‐regulation in early mother–infant interactions, whereas unilateral co‐regulation prevails in face‐to‐face contexts.

No abstract