TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal sensitivity and infant emotional reactivity
T2 - Concurrent and longitudinal relations
AU - Spinrad, Tracy L.
AU - Stifter, Cynthia A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this paper was provided by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (#MH44324) to the second author. The authors’ appreciation is extended to the families who participated in the study and to Craig Edelbrock for helpful comments on this manuscript.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Although the construct of infant reactivity is thought to be a temperamental dimension, investigators have been interested in the relation between emotional reactivity and maternal behaviors. In this study, infants' emotional reactivity to frustrating stimuli and maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed at 5 and 10 months of age. Cluster analysis of infants' emotional expressions revealed three patterns of expressive behavior emerged at both ages: (1) frequent anger and negative (distress) expressions, (2) intense anger expressions, and (3) frequent happy expressions. Results demonstrated that patterns of emotional reactivity at 5 and 10 months differed by maternal interactive style. In addition, patterns of emotional reactivity at 10 months of age could be predicted by differences in maternal caregiving, and conversely, 5-month infant reactivity was predictive of 10-month maternal behavior. Conclusions are made regarding ways that mothers socialize emotions and the bi-directional nature of mother-infant interactions.
AB - Although the construct of infant reactivity is thought to be a temperamental dimension, investigators have been interested in the relation between emotional reactivity and maternal behaviors. In this study, infants' emotional reactivity to frustrating stimuli and maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed at 5 and 10 months of age. Cluster analysis of infants' emotional expressions revealed three patterns of expressive behavior emerged at both ages: (1) frequent anger and negative (distress) expressions, (2) intense anger expressions, and (3) frequent happy expressions. Results demonstrated that patterns of emotional reactivity at 5 and 10 months differed by maternal interactive style. In addition, patterns of emotional reactivity at 10 months of age could be predicted by differences in maternal caregiving, and conversely, 5-month infant reactivity was predictive of 10-month maternal behavior. Conclusions are made regarding ways that mothers socialize emotions and the bi-directional nature of mother-infant interactions.
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U2 - 10.1300/J002v34n03_03
DO - 10.1300/J002v34n03_03
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:0038095588
SN - 0149-4929
VL - 34
SP - 243
EP - 263
JO - Marriage and Family Review
JF - Marriage and Family Review
IS - 3-4
ER -