Interpersonal synchrony is associated with infants' reactions to subtle changes in caregiver-infant interactions

Autor(en)
Gabriela Markova, Trinh Nguyen
Abstrakt

The present study examined the role of interpersonal synchrony between mothers and their 4-month-old infants (N = 40) in infant responses to a modified interaction where mothers continually looked and verbalised towards but did not engage with their children. During a natural interaction we observed behavioural synchrony and for a subsample of infants (n = 20) measured change in their salivary oxytocin from before to after the natural interaction. During the modified interaction we observed infant gaze, positive, and negative affect. We found that higher interpersonal synchrony was related to longer infants’ social gaze and shorter displays of negative affect during the modified interaction. Increase in infant oxytocin was also associated with longer gaze, but also longer negative and shorter positive affect during the modified interaction. Our results show that interpersonal synchrony allows infants to notice changes in interactions with others, but also helps them to regulate their emotions during such modified exchanges. These findings thus indicate the importance of synchrony experiences with caregivers for the development of early regulatory capacities.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Psychologie der Entwicklung und Bildung
Journal
Social Development
Band
32
Seiten
581-597
Anzahl der Seiten
17
ISSN
0961-205X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12646
Publikationsdatum
2022
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
501005 Entwicklungspsychologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Developmental and Educational Psychology, Sociology and Political Science, Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/7f625659-2bf7-448c-ae7d-8098af3f3f16