The correlates of dyadic synchrony in high-risk, low-income toddler boys.

Synchrony has been broadly conceptualized as the quality of the parent-child dyadic relationship. Parenting, factors that compromise caregiving quality, and child characteristics have all been theoretically linked to synchrony, but little research has been conducted to validate such associations. The present study examined correlates of synchrony including parenting, maternal psychological resources and child attributes, among a sample of 120 mother-son dyads who were participating in a treatment study for children identified as being at risk for developing early conduct problems. There families participated in an at-home assessment, which included a series of mother-son interactions. Synchrony was associated with aspects of parenting and child attributes, including maternal nurturance, and child emotional negativity and language skills. The findings are discussed in terms of parent and child contributions to the development of synchrony.

[1]  W. Miller,et al.  Motivational interviewing: preparing people for change. , 2002 .

[2]  J. Belsky,et al.  The determinants of parenting: a process model. , 1984, Child development.

[3]  M. Criss,et al.  Neighborhood Disadvantage, Parent–Child Conflict, Neighborhood Peer Relationships, and Early Antisocial Behavior Problem Trajectories , 2006, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[4]  Alexander von Eye,et al.  Origins of infant-mother attachment: An examination of interactional synchrony during the infant's first year. , 1989 .

[5]  D. Shaw,et al.  Anger regulation in disadvantaged preschool boys: strategies, antecedents, and the development of self-control. , 2002, Developmental psychology.

[6]  A. Paglia,et al.  Attachment security: a meta-analysis of maternal mental health correlates. , 2000, Clinical psychology review.

[7]  I. Waldman,et al.  Infant temperament and maternal sensitivity as predictors of attachment security , 1996 .

[8]  P. Crittenden,et al.  The Organization of Attachment Relationships: Maturation, Culture, and Context , 2003 .

[9]  V. Lehtinen,et al.  Gender differences in depressive symptoms. An artefact caused by measurement instruments? , 2002, Journal of affective disorders.

[10]  S. K. Mitchell Interobserver agreement, reliability, and generalizability of data collected in observational studies. , 1979 .

[11]  S. Chess,et al.  Temperament and Development , 1977 .

[12]  Elizabeth B. Owens,et al.  Relations between infant irritability and maternal responsiveness in low-income families , 1998 .

[13]  S. Calkins Origins and outcomes of individual differences in emotion regulation. , 1994, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[14]  J. Belsky,et al.  Infant emotionality, parenting, and 3-year inhibition: exploring stability and lawful discontinuity in a male sample. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[15]  K. Lertola,et al.  Maternal sensitivity behavior and infant behavior in early interaction , 2001 .

[16]  K. Keenan,et al.  Developmental precursors of externalizing behavior: Ages 1 to 3. , 1994 .

[17]  D. Carson,et al.  Comparisons of children with delayed and normal language at 24 months of age on measures of behavioral difficulties, social and cognitive development , 1998 .

[18]  Lori E. Skibbe,et al.  Relations among maternal, child, and demographic factors and the persistence of preschool language impairment. , 2004, American journal of speech-language pathology.

[19]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,et al.  Sensitivity and attachment: a meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment. , 1997, Child development.

[20]  R. Ceballo,et al.  Social support and parenting in poor, dangerous neighborhoods. , 2002, Child development.

[21]  J. Cohn,et al.  Gender differences in emotional expressivity and self-regulation during early infancy. , 1999, Developmental psychology.

[22]  D. Jackson Personality research form manual , 1974 .

[23]  Mothers' personality and its interaction with child temperament as predictors of parenting behavior. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[24]  M. Greenberg,et al.  Effects of stress and social support on mothers and premature and full-term infants. , 1983, Child development.

[25]  Richard P. Lanthier,et al.  Early Developmental Precursors of Externalizing Behavior in Middle Childhood and Adolescence , 2000, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[26]  Lauren H. Supplee,et al.  Randomized trial of a family-centered approach to the prevention of early conduct problems: 2-year effects of the family check-up in early childhood. , 2006, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[27]  Daniel S. Shaw,et al.  Mother–Son Positive Synchrony in Middle Childhood: Relation to Antisocial Behavior , 2003 .

[28]  S. Calkins Does aversive behavior during toddlerhood matter? The effects of difficult temperament on maternal perceptions and behavior , 2002 .

[29]  M. Ainsworth,et al.  Infant crying and maternal responsiveness. , 1972, Child development.

[30]  B. Leadbeater,et al.  Quality of Mother-Toddler Interactions, Maternal Depressive Symptoms, and Behavior Problems in Preschoolers of Adolescent Mothers. , 1996 .

[31]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[32]  Face-to-Face Interactions of Postpartum Depressed and Nondepressed Mother-Infant Pairs at 2 Months , 1990 .

[33]  Charlotte Wilson,et al.  The Role of Mother–Child Joint Play in the Early Development of Children's Conduct Problems: A Longitudinal Observational Study , 2003 .

[34]  Tiffany M Field,et al.  Infants of depressed mothers , 1992, Development and Psychopathology.

[35]  R. Q. Bell A Reinterpretation of the Direction of Effects in Studies of Socialization , 1970 .

[36]  J. Bates,et al.  Mother-child interaction at age two years and perceived difficult temperament. , 1985, Child development.

[37]  L. Rescorla,et al.  Validation of the language development survey (LDS): a parent report tool for identifying language delay in toddlers. , 2001, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[38]  Elizabeth B. Owens,et al.  The Development of Early Externalizing Problems Among Children from Low-Income Families: A Transformational Perspective , 1998, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[39]  M. Dunn,et al.  Chronic family adversity and early child behavior problems: a longitudinal study of low income families. , 1994, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[40]  R. R. Abidin Psychological Assessment Resources , 1995 .

[41]  V. Mcloyd,et al.  Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[42]  G. Moore,et al.  Boys' externalizing problems at elementary school age: Pathways from early behavior problems, maternal control, and family stress , 1996, Development and Psychopathology.

[43]  G. S. Pettit,et al.  Dyadic Synchrony in Mother-Child Interaction: Relation with Children's Subsequent Kindergarten Adjustment. , 1994 .

[44]  Eric W. Lindsey,et al.  Mutuality in Parent-Child Play: Consequences for Children's Peer Competence , 1997 .

[45]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,et al.  Sensitivity and Attachment: A Meta‐Analysis on Parental Antecedents of Infant Attachment , 1997 .

[46]  J. Belsky,et al.  Interactional synchrony and the origins of infant-mother attachment: a replication study. , 1991, Child development.

[47]  Margaret J. Briggs-Gowan,et al.  Maternal depression and comorbidity: predicting early parenting, attachment security, and toddler social-emotional problems and competencies. , 2001, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[48]  Jeffery F. Cohn,et al.  Infant-mother face-to-face interaction: age and gender differences in coordination and the occurrence of miscoordination , 1989 .

[49]  C. Zahn-Waxler,et al.  Expressive Control during a Disappointment: Variations Related to Preschoolers' Behavior Problems. , 1994 .

[50]  Bernadette D. Proctor,et al.  Poverty in the United States: 2001. Current Population Reports. , 2002 .

[51]  A. Harrist,et al.  Dyadic Synchrony: Its Structure and Function in Children's Development. , 2002 .

[52]  B. D. Proctor,et al.  Poverty in the United States: 2002. Current Population Reports. , 2002 .

[53]  John A. Martin A longitudinal study of the consequences of early mother–infant interaction: A microanalytic approach. , 1981 .

[54]  Nathan A. Fox,et al.  The development of emotion regulation : biological and behavioral considerations , 1994 .

[55]  Craig W. Thomas,et al.  Difficult Temperament and Behaviour Problems: A Longitudinal Study from 1.5 to 12 Years , 1997 .

[56]  E. Foster,et al.  Teacher-Reported Behavior Problems and Language Delays in Boys and Girls Enrolled in Head Start , 2002 .

[57]  D. Shaw,et al.  Developmental theories of parental contributors to antisocial behavior , 1993, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[58]  J. Cohn,et al.  Mother–infant face-to-face interaction: The sequence of dyadic states at 3, 6, and 9 months. , 1987 .

[59]  B. Egeland,et al.  Infant-mother attachment: factors related to its development and changes over time. , 1984, Child development.

[60]  A. Carter,et al.  The social-emotional development of "late-talking" toddlers. , 2002, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[61]  J. Hoeksma,et al.  The effect of infant irritability on mother-infant interaction: A growth-curve analysis. , 1994 .

[62]  G. Kochanska,et al.  Development of mutual responsiveness between parents and their young children. , 2004, Child development.

[63]  D. Nagin,et al.  Trajectories leading to school-age conduct problems. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[64]  S. Petrill,et al.  Parent-child dyadic mutuality and child behavior problems: an investigation of gene-environment processes. , 2004, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[65]  J. Ispa,et al.  Maternal personality as a moderator of relations between difficult infant temperament and attachment security in low-income families. , 2002 .

[66]  G. Ladd,et al.  Connectedness and autonomy support in parent-child relationships: links to children's socioemotional orientation and peer relationships. , 2000, Developmental psychology.