Dyadic Flexibility during the Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm: A dynamic systems analysis of its temporal organization

• Published in: Infant behavior & development Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 432 - 437
• Main Authors: Sravish, Akhila V., Tronick, Edward, Hollenstein, Tom, Beeghly, Marjorie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-06-2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Caregivers - psychology; Child development; Depression; Depression, Postpartum - psychology; Developmental psychology; Dyadic flexibility; Dyadic regulation; Face; Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm; Family environment. Family history; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Infant; Infant–caregiver interactions; Male; Maternal depression; Medical sciences; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers - psychology; Newborn. Infant; Nonlinear dynamics; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sex Factors; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Systems Analysis; Infant–caregiver interactions; Nonlinear dynamics; Maternal depression; Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm; Dyadic regulation; Dyadic flexibility; Human; Mood disorder; Affect affectivity; Sex; Depression; Infant; Emotion emotionality; Mother child relation; Maternal diseases; Social interaction; Dyadic relation; Family environment; Self regulation; Infant-caregiver interactions; Affective development; Facial expression
• ISSN: 0163-6383; 1879-0453; 1934-8800
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.03.013

•We modeled the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm using dynamic systems principles.•A measure of dyadic flexibility was derived using the state space grid technique.•Infant–caregiver dyadic flexibility, though stable, increased after a perturbation.•Dyadic flexibility was correlated to infant negativity during the perturbation.•Sons of depressed mothers appeared to have greater regulatory difficulties.
A dynamic systems analytical model was used to characterize infant–caregiver regulatory dynamics. Though stable, there was an increase in dyadic flexibility following a perturbation. Dyadic flexibility was positively related to infant negativity during the perturbation. Findings were qualified by infant sex and maternal depressive symptoms.