Early Maternal Reflective Functioning and Infant Emotional Regulation in a Preterm Infant Sample at 6 Months Corrected Age

This study investigated the influence of maternal reflective functioning (RF) on 6-month-old infants' emotional self-regulating abilities in preterm infant-mother dyads. 25 preterm (gestational age 28-34.5 weeks) infants' affect, gaze toward mother, and self-soothing behaviors (thumb-sucki...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of pediatric psychology Vol. 41; no. 8; pp. 906 - 914
Main Authors:	Heron-Delaney, Michelle, Kenardy, Justin A, Brown, Erin A, Jardine, Chloe, Bogossian, Fiona, Neuman, Louise, de Dassel, Therese, Pritchard, Margo
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01-09-2016
Subjects:	Emotions Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Infant Infant Behavior - psychology Infant, Newborn Infant, Premature - psychology Male Mother-Child Relations - psychology Mothers - psychology Psychological Tests Self-Control - psychology reflective functioning relationship quality still-face paradigm preterm infants
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Summary:	This study investigated the influence of maternal reflective functioning (RF) on 6-month-old infants' emotional self-regulating abilities in preterm infant-mother dyads. 25 preterm (gestational age 28-34.5 weeks) infants' affect, gaze toward mother, and self-soothing behaviors (thumb-sucking and playing with clothing) were measured during the still-face procedure at 6 months corrected age. Maternal RF was measured at 7-15 days post-delivery using the Parent Development Interview. Infants with high RF mothers showed the most negative affect during the still-face episode (M = 21.33s, SE = 5.44), whereas infants with low RF mothers showed the most negative affect in the reunion episode (M = 18.14s, SE = 3.69). Infants with high RF mothers showed significantly more self-soothing behaviors when distressed (Ms > 14.5s) than infants with low RF mothers (Ms < 1s), p's < .01. Maternal RF was associated with infants' self-regulating behavior, providing preliminary evidence for the regulatory role of maternal RF in preterm infants' emotion regulation capacity.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0146-8693 1465-735X
DOI:	10.1093/jpepsy/jsv169