Mother-infant synchrony and the development of moral orientation in childhood and adolescence: Direct and indirect mechanisms of developmental continuity.

Abstract

Links between the temporal parameters of mother-infant synchrony and moral orientation in adolescence were examined in 31 children monitored from 3 months to 13 years. At 3 and 9 months, mother's and infant's affective states during face-to-face play were microcoded and synchrony was assessed with time-series analysis. Verbal IQ, behavior problems, child self-regulated compliance, and maternal warm control discipline were examined at 2, 4, and 6 years. Moral cognition and dialogical empathy were evaluated at 6 and 13 years. Three mechanisms of continuity were proposed: continuity in small steps, continuity through a mediating variable, and direct continuity. Mother-infant synchrony across the 1st year, indexed by the lagged associations between maternal and infant affective involvement, predicted verbal IQ and behavior adaptation, which in turn predicted moral cognition. Child self-regulated compliance across the toddler and preschool years mediated the relations between the lead-lag structure of early interactions and the adolescent's dialogical skills. Direct associations were found between mother-infant synchrony and the capacity for empathy in adolescence. Participating in a synchronous exchange may sensitize infants to the emotional resonance and empathy underlying human relationships across the life span.

Children's emotional responsiveness and sociomoral understanding and associations with mothers' and fathers' socialization practices

“…High levels of moral reasoning and the capacity for empathic responding to others have been associated with the quality of children's peer and sibling relationships, problem-solving ability, and prosocial behavior (Chapman, Zahn-Waxler, Cooperman, & Iannotti, 1987;Costin & Jones, 1992;Dunn, Brown, & Maguire, 1995;Dunn & Herrera, 1997;Feldman, 2007;Howe, Cate, Brown, & Hadwin, 2008). On the other hand, moral cognitions characterized by aggression and denial are related to negative peer interactions and a lack of prosocial action (Garner, 1996;Wan & Green, 2010).…”

Role of Genetic and Environmental Factors in the Development of Empathy

“…Так, синхроннность, или согласованное во време-ни поведение взаимодействующих лиц, исследова-лась в лонгитюдном исследовании Р. Фельдмана в рамках взаимодействия в диаде родитель-ребенок и связи уровня синхронности в диаде с развитием эмпатии у ребенка [17]. Процедурой предусматрива-лось несколько этапов.…”

“…Таким образом, данные подтверждают, что чем чаще согласованные и взаимовлияющие акты на-блюдаются в диаде во время мимических игр в пери-од младенчества, тем более высокий уровень эмпатии в вербальной форме проявляет этот ребенок к матери в последующие периоды дошкольного детства и под-ростничества [17].…”

La empatía en la primera infancia

“…Esto genera motivación y necesidad para actuar (Preston & de Waal, 2002). Feldman (2007) realizó un estudio longitudinal en 31 niños controlados desde los 3 meses hasta los 13 años. Se encontraron asociaciones directas en la sincronía entre madre e hijo analizada desde los primeros meses y la capacidad de empatía en la adolescencia.…”