Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-7qhmt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T10:21:41.127Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Maternal physiological dysregulation while parenting poses risk for infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2016

Esther M. Leerkes*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Jinni Su
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Susan D. Calkins
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Marion O'Brien
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Andrew J. Supple
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Esther M. Leerkes, School of Health and Human Sciences, 134 Stone Building, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170; E-mail: emleerke@uncg.edu.

Abstract

The extent to which indices of maternal physiological arousal (skin conductance augmentation) and regulation (vagal withdrawal) while parenting predict infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems directly or indirectly via maternal sensitivity was examined in a sample of 259 mothers and their infants. Two covariates, maternal self-reported emotional risk and Adult Attachment Interview attachment coherence were assessed prenatally. Mothers' physiological arousal and regulation were measured during parenting tasks when infants were 6 months old. Maternal sensitivity was observed during distress-eliciting tasks when infants were 6 and 14 months old, and an average sensitivity score was calculated. Attachment disorganization was observed during the Strange Situation when infants were 14 months old, and mothers reported on infants' behavior problems when infants were 27 months old. Over and above covariates, mothers' arousal and regulation while parenting interacted to predict infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems such that maternal arousal was associated with higher attachment disorganization and behavior problems when maternal regulation was low but not when maternal regulation was high. This effect was direct and not explained by maternal sensitivity. The results suggest that maternal physiological dysregulation while parenting places infants at risk for psychopathology.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ablow, J. C., Marks, A. K., Feldman, S. S., & Huffman, L. C. (2013). Associations between first-time expectant women's representations of attachment and their physiological reactivity to infant cry. Child Development, 84, 13731391. doi:10.1111/cdev.12135 Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., Edelbrock, C., & Howell, C. T. (1987). Empirically based assessment of the behavioral/emotional problems of 2- and 3-year-old children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 629650. doi:10.1007/BF00917246 Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: Assessed in the strange situation and at home. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Kroonenberg, P. M. (2004). Differences in attachment security between African-American and White children: Ethnicity or socio-economic status? Infant Behavior & Development, 27, 417433. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2004.02.002 Google Scholar
Beauchaine, T. P. (2001). Vagal tone, development, and Gray's motivational theory: Toward an integrated model of autonomic nervous system functioning in psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 183214. doi:10.1017/S0954579401002012 Google Scholar
Berntson, G. G., Cacioppo, J. T., & Quigley, K. S. (1991). Autonomic determinism: The modes of autonomic control, the doctrine of autonomic space, and the laws of autonomic constraint. Psychological Review, 98, 459487. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.98.4.459 Google Scholar
Berntson, G. G., Norman, G. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). Cardiac autonomic balance versus cardiac regulatory capacity. Psychophysiology, 45, 643652. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00652.x Google Scholar
Bick, J., & Dozier, M. (2013). The effectiveness of an attachment-based intervention in promoting foster mothers’ sensitivity toward foster infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 34, 95103. doi:10.1002/imhj.21373 Google Scholar
Blandon, A. Y., Calkins, S. D., Grimm, K. J., Keane, S. P., & O'Brien, M. (2010). Testing a developmental cascade model of emotional and social competence and early peer acceptance. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 737748. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000428 Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation. New York: Basic Books Google Scholar
Bridgett, D. J., Burt, N. M., Laake, L. M., & Oddi, K. B. (2013). Maternal self-regulation, relationship adjustment, and home chaos: Contributions to infant negative emotionality. Infant Behavior & Development, 36, 534547. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.04.004 Google Scholar
Bridgett, D. J., Gartstein, M. A., Putnam, S. P., Lance, K. O., Iddins, E., Waits, R., et al. (2011). Emerging effortful control in toddlerhood: The role of infant orienting/regulation, maternal effortful control, and maternal time spent in caregiving activities. Infant Behavior & Development, 34, 189199. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.12.008 Google Scholar
Briggs-Gowan, M. J., Carter, A. S., Irwin, J. R., Wachtel, K., & Cicchetti, D. V. (2004). The Brief Infant–Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment: Screening for social–emotional problems and delays in competence. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 29, 143155. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsh017 Google Scholar
Brooker, R. J., & Buss, K. A. (2009). Dynamic measures of RSA predict distress and regulation in toddlers. Developmental Psychobiology, 52, 372382. doi:10.1002/dev.20432 Google Scholar
Calkins, S. D. (1994). Origins and outcomes of individual differences in emotion regulation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 5372. doi:10.2307/1166138 Google Scholar
Calkins, S. D., Blandon, A. Y., Williford, A. P., & Keane, S. P. (2007). Biological, behavioral, and relational levels of resilience in the context of risk for early childhood behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 675700. doi:10.1017/S095457940700034X Google Scholar
Cassidy, J., Ziv, Y., Stupica, B., Sherman, L. J., Butler, H., Karfgin, A., et al. (2010). Enhancing attachment security in the infants of women in a jail-diversion program. Attachment & Human Development, 12, 333353. doi:10.1080/14616730903416955 Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 597600. doi:10.1017/S0954579400007318 Google Scholar
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 4, 513. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.5 Google Scholar
De Geus, E. C., Kupper, N., Boomsma, D. I., & Snieder, H. (2007). Bivariate genetic modeling of cardiovascular stress reactivity: Does stress uncover genetic variance? Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 356364. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e318049cc2d Google Scholar
Dix, T. (1991). The affective organization of parenting: Adaptive and maladaptative processes. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 325. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.3 Google Scholar
Dix, T., Gershoff, E. T., Meunier, L. N., & Miller, P. C. (2004). The affective structure of supportive parenting: Depressive symptoms, immediate emotions, and child-oriented motivation. Developmental Psychology, 40, 12121227. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.6.1212 Google Scholar
Donovan, W. L., & Leavitt, L. A. (1989). Maternal self-efficacy and infant attachment: Integrating physiology, perceptions, and behavior. Child Development, 60, 460472. doi:10.2307/1130990 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emery, H. T., McElwain, N. L., Groh, A. M., Haydon, K. C., & Roisman, G. I. (2014). Maternal dispositional empathy and electrodermal reactivity: Interactive contributions to maternal sensitivity with toddler-aged children. Journal of Family Psychology, 28, 505515. doi:10.1037/a0036986 Google Scholar
Esarey, J., & Sumner, J. L. (2015). Marginal effects in interaction models: Determining and controlling the false positive rate. Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved from http://jee3.web.rice.edu/interaction-overconfidence.pdf Google Scholar
Feldman, R. (2007). Parent–infant synchrony: Biological foundations and developmental outcomes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 340345. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00532.x Google Scholar
Feldman, R., Magori-Cohen, R., Galili, G., Singer, M., & Louzoun, Y. (2011). Mother and infant coordinate heart rhythms through episodes of interaction synchrony. Infant Behavior & Development, 34, 569577. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.06.008 Google Scholar
Frodi, A. M., & Lamb, M. E. (1980). Child abusers’ responses to infant smiles and cries. Child Development, 51, 238241. doi:10.2307/1129612 Google Scholar
George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984/1985/1996). Adult Attachment Interview (3rd ed.). Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Psychology.Google Scholar
Gratz, K. L., Kiel, E. J., Latzman, R. D., Elkin, T. D., Moore, S. A., & Tull, M. T. (2014). Emotion: Empirical contribution: Maternal borderline personality pathology and infant emotion regulation: Examining the influence of maternal emotion-related difficulties and infant attachment. Journal of Personality Disorders, 28, 5269. doi:10.1521/pedi.2014.28.1.52 Google Scholar
Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26, 4154. doi:10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94 Google Scholar
Ham, J., & Tronick, E. (2009). Relational psychophysiology: Lessons from mother–infant physiology research on dyadically expanded states of consciousness. Psychotherapy Research, 19, 619632. doi:10.1080/10503300802609672 Google Scholar
Hastings, P. D., Nuselovici, J. N., Utendale, W. T., Coutya, J., McShane, K. E., & Sullivan, C. (2008). Applying the polyvagal theory to children's emotion regulation: Social context, socialization, and adjustment. Biological Psychology, 79, 299306. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.07.005 Google Scholar
Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hill-Soderlund, A. L., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C., Calkins, S. D., Granger, D. A., Moore, G. A., et al. (2008). Parasympathetic and sympathetic responses to the strange situation in infants and mothers from avoidant and securely attached dyads. Developmental Psychobiology, 50, 361376. doi:10.1002/dev.20302 Google Scholar
Hornik, R., Risenhoover, N., & Gunnar, M. (1987). The effects of maternal positive, neutral, and negative affective communications on infant responses to new toys. Child Development, 58, 937944. doi:10.2307/1130534 Google Scholar
Izard, C. E., Haynes, O. M., Chisholm, G., & Baak, K. (1991). Emotional determinants of infant–mother attachment. Child Development, 62, 906917. doi:10.2307/1131142 Google Scholar
Izard, C. E., Libero, D. Z., Putnam, P., & Haynes, O. M. (1993). Stability of emotion experiences and their relations to traits of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 847860. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.847 Google Scholar
Joosen, K. J., Mesman, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Pieper, S., Zeskind, P. S., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2013). Physiological reactivity to infant crying and observed maternal sensitivity. Infancy, 18, 414431. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2012.00122.x Google Scholar
Joosen, K. J., Mesman, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2013). Maternal overreactive sympathetic nervous system responses to repeated infant crying predicts risk for impulsive harsh discipline of infants. Child Maltreatment, 18, 252263. doi:10.1177/1077559513494762 Google Scholar
Kim, H. K., Pears, K. C., Capaldi, D. M., & Owen, L. D. (2009). Emotion dysregulation in the intergenerational transmission of romantic relationship conflict. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 585595. doi:10.1037/a0015935 Google Scholar
Leerkes, E. M. (2010). Predictors of maternal sensitivity to infant distress. Parenting: Science and Practice, 10, 219239. doi:10.1080/15295190903290840 Google Scholar
Leerkes, E. M., Blankson, A. N., & O'Brien, M. (2009). Differential effects of maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress on social-emotional functioning. Child Development, 80, 762775. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01296.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leerkes, E. M., Parade, S. H., & Gudmundson, J. A. (2011). Mothers’ emotional reactions to crying pose risk for subsequent attachment insecurity. Journal of Family Psychology, 25, 635643. doi:10.1037/a0023654 Google Scholar
Leerkes, E. M., Su, J., Calkins, S. D., Supple, A. J., & O'Brien, M. (in press). Pathways by which mothers’ physiological arousal and regulation while caregiving predict sensitivity to infant distress. Journal of Family Psychology.Google Scholar
Leerkes, E. M., Supple, A. J., O'Brien, M., Calkins, S. D., Haltigan, J. D., Wong, M. S., et al. (2015). Antecedents of maternal sensitivity during distressing tasks: Integrating attachment, social information processing, and psychobiological perspectives. Child Development, 86, 94111. doi:10.1111/cdev.12288 Google Scholar
Leerkes, E. M., & Wong, M. S. (2012). Infant distress and regulatory behaviors vary as a function of attachment security regardless of emotion context and maternal involvement. Infancy, 17, 455478. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00099.x Google Scholar
Lemery-Chalfant, K., Kao, K., Swann, G., & Goldsmith, H. H. (2013). Childhood temperament: Passive gene–environment correlation, gene–environment interaction, and the hidden importance of the family environment. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 5163. doi:10.1037/t10159-000 Google Scholar
Lensvelt-Mulders, G., & Hettema, J. (2001). Genetic analysis of autonomic reactivity to psychologically stressful situations. Biological Psychology, 58, 2540. doi:10.1016/S0301-0511(01)00099-0 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lorber, M. F., & O'Leary, S. G. (2005). Mediated paths to overreactive discipline: Mothers’ experienced emotion, appraisals, and physiological responses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 972981. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.73.5.972 Google Scholar
Lyons-Ruth, K., & Jacobvitz, D. (2008). Attachment disorganization: Genetic factors, parenting contexts, and developmental transformation from infancy to adulthood. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 666697). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., & Williams, J. (2004). Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 99128. doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4 Google Scholar
Madigan, S., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Moran, G., Pederson, D. R., & Benoit, D. (2006). Unresolved states of mind, anomalous parental behavior, and disorganized attachment: A review and meta-analysis of a transmission gap. Attachment & Human Development, 8, 89111. doi:10.1080/14616730600774458 Google Scholar
Main, M., & Goldwyn, R. (1998). Adult Attachment Interview scoring and classification manual—6th version. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents’ unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism? In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 161182). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121160). Chicago: University of Chicago Press Google Scholar
Main, M., Tomasini, L., & Tolan, W. (1979). Differences among mothers of infants judged to differ in security. Developmental Psychology, 15, 472473. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.15.4.472 Google Scholar
Martin, S. E., Clements, M. L., & Crnic, K. A. (2011). Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in two-year-olds: Links to mother-toddler emotion processes. Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology, 7, 105128. doi:10.1037/t02942-000 Google Scholar
Mesman, J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012). Unequal in opportunity, equal in process: Parental sensitivity promotes positive child development in ethnic minority families. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 239250. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00223.x Google Scholar
Miller, J. G., Kahle, S., Lopez, M., & Hastings, P. D. (2015). Compassionate love buffers stress-reactive mothers from fight-or-flight parenting. Developmental Psychology, 51, 3643. doi:10.1037/a0038236 Google Scholar
Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C., Gariepy, J., Barnett, M., Moore, G. A., Calkins, S., et al. (2009). Psychophysiological correlates of parenting behavior in mothers of young children. Developmental Psychobiology, 51, 650661. doi:10.1002/dev.20400 Google Scholar
Moore, G. A. (2009). Infants’ and mothers’ vagal reactivity in response to anger. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 13921400. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02171.x Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus user's guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Pauli-Pott, U., & Mertesacker, B. (2009). Affect expression in mother-infant interaction and subsequent attachment development. Infant Behavior & Development, 32, 208215. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2008.12.010 Google Scholar
Porges, S. W. (1985, April). Method and apparatus for evaluating rhythmic oscillations in a periodic physiological response systems. US Patent No. 4,510,944.Google Scholar
Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74, 116143. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009 Google Scholar
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385401. doi:10.1177/014662167700100306 Google Scholar
Skowron, E. A., Cipriano-Essel, E., Benjamin, L. S., Pincus, A. L., & Van Ryzin, M. J. (2013). Cardiac vagal tone and quality of parenting show concurrent and time-ordered associations that diverge in abusive, neglectful, and non-maltreating mothers. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 2, 95115. doi:10.1037/cfp0000005 Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 1729. doi:10.2307/1129832 Google Scholar
Stern, R. M., Ray, W. J., & Quigley, K. S. (2001). Psychophysiological recording (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sturge-Apple, M. L., Skibo, M. A., Rogosch, F. A., Ignjatovic, Z., & Heinzelman, W. (2011). The impact of allostatic load on maternal sympathovagal functioning in stressful child contexts: Implications for problematic parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 831844. doi:10.1017/S0954579411000332 Google Scholar
Tronick, E., Als, H., Adamson, L., Wise, S., & Brazelton, T. B. (1978). The infant's response to entrapment between contradictory messages in face-to-face interaction. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 17, 113.Google Scholar
van IJzendoorn, M. H., Schuengel, C., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (1999). Disorganized attachment in early childhood: Meta-analysis of precursors, concomitants, and sequelae. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 225249. doi:10.1017/S0954579499002035 Google Scholar