Dynamic infant-parent affect coupling during the face-to-face/still-face.
We examined dynamic infant-parent affect coupling using the Face-to-Face/Still-Face (FFSF). The sample included 20 infants whose older siblings had been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD-sibs) and 18 infants with comparison siblings (COMP-sibs). A series of mixed effects bivariate autoregressive models was used to represent the self-regulation and interactive dynamics of infants and parents during the FFSF. Significant bidirectional affective coupling was found between infants and parents, with infant-to-parent coupling being more prominent than parent-to-infant coupling. Further analysis of within-dyad dynamics revealed ongoing changes in concurrent infant-parent linkages both within and between different FFSF episodes. The importance of considering both inter- and intradyad differences is discussed.
Chow
Sy-Miin
SM
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3270, USA. symiin@email.unc.edu
Haltigan
John D
JD
Messinger
Daniel S
DS
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology; D005145:Face; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology