Studying caregiver-infant co-regulation in dynamic, diverse cultural contexts: A call to action

Buhler‐Wassmann, Andrea C.; Hibel, Leah C.

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101586

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 139 publications

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“…It is possible that caregiver unpredictability and its impact on development might vary as a function of the particular caregiver behaviors being considered and the valence of such behaviors. Davis' pioneering observational work on caregiver unpredictability (Davis et al, 2017) has exclusively centered on sensory inputs to the infant (e.g., touch or vocalizations), which are not equivalent to or interchangeable with other inputs, such as caregivers' emotional expressions or responses to infants' bids or needs (Buhler-Wassmann & Hibel, 2021). Researchers have not yet considered whether caregiver unpredictability is domain-general, expressed similarly across different inputs or features of caregiving, or domain-specific, evident in specific inputs or valences.…”

Section: Issue #2 Domains and Specificity Of Caregiver Unpredictabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing unpredictability in caregiver–child relationships: Insights from theoretical and empirical perspectives

Ugarte

Hastings

2023

Dev Psychopathol

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There has been significant interest and progress in understanding the role of caregiver unpredictability on brain maturation, cognitive and socioemotional development, and psychopathology. Theoretical consensus has emerged about the unique influence of unpredictability in shaping children’s experience, distinct from other adverse exposures or features of stress exposure. Nonetheless, the field still lacks theoretical and empirical common ground due to difficulties in accurately conceptualizing and measuring unpredictability in the caregiver–child relationship. In this paper, we first provide an overview of the role of unpredictability in theories of caregiving and childhood adversity and present four issues that are currently under-discussed but are crucial to the field. Focusing on how moment-to-moment and day-to-day dynamics are at the heart of caregiver unpredictability, we review three approaches aiming to address some of these nuances: Environmental statistics, entropy, and dynamic systems. Lastly, we conclude with a broad summary and suggest future research directions. Systematic progress in this field can inform interventions and policies aiming to increase stability in the lives of children.

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Section: Issue #2 Domains and Specificity Of Caregiver Unpredictabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing unpredictability in caregiver–child relationships: Insights from theoretical and empirical perspectives

Ugarte

Hastings

2023

Dev Psychopathol

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“…Critically, EMA studies also allow researchers to document the processes by which mood and emotion may fluctuate over time (Ebner-Priemer & Trull, 2009). Research designs that combine mood reports with objective measures of experience can be used to test theories of real-time effects of everyday contexts on mental health (Buhler-Wassmann & Hibel, 2021; Hamaker & Wichers, 2017; Shiffman et al, 2008). For example, time-varying measures of crying exposure can be time-locked to self-report surveys to assess lagged associations between infant crying and maternal mental health.…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant crying predicts real-time fluctuations in maternal mental health in ecologically valid home settings.

Barbaro¹,

Micheletti²,

Yao³

et al. 2023

Developmental Psychology

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Exposure to infant crying is a well-established predictor of mothers' mental health. However, this association may reflect many potential mechanisms. Capturing dynamic fluctuations in mothers’ states simultaneously with caregiving experiences is necessary to identify the real-time processes influencing mental health. In this study, we leveraged ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and infant-worn audio recorders to capture variability in mothers’ mental health symptoms and their exposure to infant crying over one week in a racially and socio-economically diverse urban North-American sample (N = 53). We use multilevel modeling to characterize within- and between-person effects of crying on maternal negative affect and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Within participants, when infants cried more than average in the 10 min, 1 hr, and 8 hr prior to an EMA report, mothers’ negative affect subsequently increased, controlling for mean levels of infant crying. In contrast to findings from laboratory studies, in everyday settings crying exposure did not immediately increase feelings of depression. Only when crying was above average for 8 hr prior to EMA did mothers report increases in subsequent depression symptoms, suggesting that the effects of crying on maternal mental health take hours to unfold in ecologically valid home settings. Between participants, mothers of infants who cried more on average did not report higher negative affect or symptoms of depression or anxiety. Overall, our findings reveal that crying exposure dynamically influences maternal negative affect and depression but not anxiety in ecologically valid real-world settings.

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“…Frequently, the impact of maternal care on the infant and the degree of parental co-regulation is subtle, with its impact becoming visible with removal or dramatic changes in parental care. For example, young children can maintain homeostasis of vital functions, such as heart rate and respiration, but the regulatory role of parental care was shown through experiments comparing infants alone v. engaged in parental contact via somatosensory (temperature, touch), olfactory (caregiver odor), visual (face), and auditory (voice) stimulation ( Kommers et al, 2019 ; Suga et al, 2019 ; Buhler-Wassmann and Hibel, 2021 ; Ionio et al, 2021 ). This regulation is also seen in the infant’s co-sleep with the parent, producing improved sleep compared to when the infants sleep alone ( Mosko et al, 1997 ; Richard and Mosko, 2004 ; Waynforth, 2020 ; Yoshida and Funato, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In children, regular disruption of emotional homeostasis during early life (i.e., through adverse rearings such as deprivation or maltreatment) is highly correlated with later-life compromised functioning (i.e., psychiatric disorders, impaired academics, etc. ), although specific causal mechanisms embedded within the infant-caregiver relationship have remained elusive ( Raineki et al, 2012 ; Buhler-Wassmann and Hibel, 2021 ). The lack of understanding specific infant self-regulatory and co-regulatory mechanisms, such as specific parental behavior or sensory stimuli necessary and causal for infant physiological and emotional homeostasis, has hampered our understanding of the correlational link between infant dysregulation and later-life compromised outcome ( Tronick et al, 1977 ; Feldman et al, 2002 ; Raposo et al, 2014 ; Cevasco-Trotter et al, 2019 ; Palacios-Barrios and Hanson, 2019 ; Tottenham, 2020 ; Vink et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiology of Parental Regulation of the Infant and Its Disruption by Trauma Within Attachment

Graf

Zanca

Song

et al. 2022

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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The complex process of regulating physiological functions and homeostasis during external and internal disruptions develops slowly in altricial species, with parental care functioning as a co-regulator of infant physiological and emotional homeostasis. Here, we review our current understanding of the infant’s use of parental behaviors for neurobehavioral regulation and its disruption with harsh parental care. Taking a cross-species view, we briefly review the human developmental literature that highlights the importance of the caregiver in scaffolding the child’s physiological and emotional regulation, especially under threat and stress. We then use emerging corresponding animal literature within the phylogenetically preserved attachment system to help define neural systems supporting caregiver regulation and its supporting causal mechanism to provide translational bridges to inform causation and mechanisms impossible to define in children. Next, we briefly review animal research highlighting the impact of specific sensory stimuli imbedded in parental care as important for infant physiological and emotion regulation. We then highlight the importance of parental sensory stimuli gaining hedonic value to go beyond simple sensory stimuli to further impact neurobehavioral regulation, with poor quality of care compromising the infant’s ability to use these cues for regulation. Clinically, parental regulation of the infant is correlated with later-life neurobehavioral outcome and quality of life. We suggest an understanding of this parental regulation of the infant’s immediate neurobehavioral functioning within the context of attachment quality, that may provide insights into the complex processes during early life, initiating the pathway to pathology.

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Studying caregiver-infant co-regulation in dynamic, diverse cultural contexts: A call to action

Cited by 19 publications

References 139 publications

Assessing unpredictability in caregiver–child relationships: Insights from theoretical and empirical perspectives

Assessing unpredictability in caregiver–child relationships: Insights from theoretical and empirical perspectives

Infant crying predicts real-time fluctuations in maternal mental health in ecologically valid home settings.

Neurobiology of Parental Regulation of the Infant and Its Disruption by Trauma Within Attachment

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