Does Maternal Psychological Risk Affect Responsive Parenting Practices and Infant Emotion Regulation?

Poor parental mental health outcomes can have negative effects on infant attachment and emotion regulation (Swain et al., 2007). Maternal depression (Paulson et al., 2006) and parenting stress (Coyl et al., 2002) have been correlated with reduced maternal responsiveness and negative infant social-emotional outcomes (El-Sheikh et al., 2009). Neuroimaging techniques have shown that attachment and responsive parenting practices lead to increased emotion regulation and secure attachment throughout childhood (Miller and Commons, 2010). The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of maternal psychological risk on responsive parenting practices during parent-infant play interactions and infant emotion regulation in a sample of families participating in Early Head Start (EHS) services.Extant longitudinal data from the U.S. EHS Research and Evaluation Project, a nationwide study of infants (n=1,995) and their families, were used to examine the effect of maternal psychological risk on child development in the context of EHS services. Mothers reported parenting distress using the Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1995) and depression using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Radolff, 1991) at 14 months. Parent-infant interactions, including parental responsiveness, were video recorded and coded at 14, 24, and 36 months using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (Roggman et al., 2013). Child emotion regulation was measured at 14, 24, and 36 months using the Behavior Rating Scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley, 1993). Parent-infant interaction quality, particularly responsiveness, is negatively correlated with maternal depression and parenting distress, and positively correlated with infant emotion regulation throughout infancy. Mothers with lower psychological risk had higher parental responsiveness and children with better emotion regulation. These results support previous research indicating that use of attachment and responsive parenting practices support the development of emotion regulation and secure attachment in infants.Presentation Time: Wednesday, 10-11 a.m.