Browsing by Author "Tronick, Edward"
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- More than maternal sensitivity shapes attachment : infant coping and temperamentPublication . Fuertes, Marina; Santos, Pedro Lopes dos; Beeghly, Marjorie; Tronick, EdwardThe aim of this longitudinal studywas to investigate the effect of a set of factors from multiple levels of influence: infant temperament, infant regulatory behavior, and maternal sensitivity on infant’s attachment. Our sample consisted of 48 infants born prematurely and their mothers. At 1 and 3 months of age, mothers described their infants’behavior using the Escala de Temperamento do Beb´e. At 3 months of age, infants’ capacity to regulate stress was evaluated during Tronick’s Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF) paradigm. At 9 months of age, mothers’ sensitivity was evaluated during free play using the CARE-Index. At 12 months of age, infants’ attachment security was assessed during Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. A total of 16 infants were classified as securely attached, 17 as insecure-avoidant, and 15 as insecure-resistant. Mothers of securely attached infantswere more likely than mothers of insecure infants to describe their infants as less difficult and to be more sensitive to their infants in free play. In turn, secure infants exhibited more positive responses during the Still-Face. Infants classified as insecureavoidant were more likely to self-comfort during the Still-Face and had mothers who were more controlling during free play. Insecure-resistant exhibited higher levels of negative arousal during the Still-Face and had mothers who were more unresponsive in free play. These findings show that attachment quality is influenced bymultiple factors, including infant temperament, coping behavior, and maternal sensitivity.
- Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS): Confirmatory factor analysis of the six behavioral clustersPublication . Barbosa, Miguel; Moreira, João; Tronick, Edward; Beeghly, Marjorie; Fuertes, MarinaThe neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) is a widely used in the neurobehavioral assessment of neonates in clinical practice and research. Lester's data reduction system for the NBAS items is the most often used in research, but the few factor analytic studies carried out with it leave gaps in its validation. The current study aimed to test and compare (a) the factorial structure of the Lester's data reduction system for the NBAS and (b) an alternative data reduction system, slightly modified from Lester's system. The NBAS was administered to 196 healthy Portuguese full-term infants (51% male) in the first 72 h of life (M = 43.63 h). Construct validity of the data reduction systems was tested through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Lester's original system was compared to three alternative models, two of which included a revision of the scoring rules for three items and the exclusion of five items. The CFA generally supported the six-factor structure. However, fit indices for Lester's original model were only fair. An alternative, revised model with a second-order factor - Self-Organizing System - demonstrated a better fit. The results provide evidence to support a modified form of Lester's six behavioral clusters as a data reduction model for the NBAS items.
- Predicting Patterns of Regulatory Behavior in the Still‐Face Paradigm at 3 MonthsPublication . Barbosa, Miguel; Beeghly, Marjorie; Gonçalves, Joana L.; Moreira, João; Tronick, Edward; Fuertes, MarinaThe current study addressed two aims: (1) to describe different patterns of infant regulatory behavior during the Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF) paradigm at 3 months of age and (2) to identify specific, independent predictors of these patterns from an a priori set of demographic, infant (e.g., temperament), and maternal (e.g., sensitivity) variables. Analyses were based on data collected for 121 mother–infant dyads assessed longitudinally in the newborn period and again at 3 months. In the newborn period, infants’ neurobehavior was evaluated using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and mothers reported on their caregiving confidence and their newborns’ irritability and alertness. At 3 months, mothers reported on their infant’s temperament, and mother–infant interactions were videotaped during free play and the FFSF. Three patterns of infant regulatory behavior were observed. The most common was a Social-Positive Oriented Pattern, followed by a Distressed-Inconsolable Pattern, and a Self-Comfort Oriented Pattern. Results of multinomial logistic regression indicated that categorical assignment was not associated with demographic or infant characteristics, but rather with dyadic regulatory processes in which maternal reparatory sensitivity played a crucial role.
- Predictors of infant positive, negative and self-direct coping during face to face still-face in a Portuguese preterm samplePublication . Fuertes, Marina; Beeghly, Marjorie; Santos, Pedro Lopes dos; Tronick, EdwardPast studies found three types of infant coping behaviour during Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (FFSF): a Positive Other-Directed Coping; a Negative Other-Directed Coping and a Self-Directed Coping. In the present study, we investigated whether those types of coping styles are predicted by: infants’ physiological responses; maternal representations of their infant’s temperament; maternal interactive behaviour in free play; and infant birth and medical status. The sample consisted of 46, healthy, prematurely born infants and their mothers. At one month, infant heart rate was collected in basal. At three months old (corrected age), infant heart-rate was registered during FFSF episodes. Mothers described their infants’ temperament using a validated Portuguese temperament scale, at infants three months of corrected age. As well, maternal interactive behaviour was evaluated during a free play situation using CARE-Index. Our findings indicate that positive coping behaviours were correlated with gestational birth weight, heart rate (HR), gestational age, and maternal sensitivity in free play. Gestational age and maternal sensitivity predicted Positive Other-Direct Coping behaviours. Moreover, Positive Other-Direct coping was negatively correlated with HR during Still-Face Episode. Self-directed behaviours were correlated with HR during Still-Face Episode and Recover Episode and with maternal controlling/intrusive behaviour. However, only maternal behaviour predicted Self-direct coping. Early social responses seem to be affected by infants’ birth status and by maternal interactive behaviour. Therefore, internal and external factors together contribute to infant ability to cope and to re-engage after stressful social events.
- Robust stability and physiological correlates of infants’ patterns of regulatory behavior in the still-face paradigm at 3 and 9 monthsPublication . Barbosa, Miguel; Beeghly, Marjorie; Moreira, João; Tronick, Edward; Fuertes, MarinaThis study examined the stability of three patterns of infant regulatory behavior identified in the face-to-face still-face (FFSF) paradigm at 3 and 9 months—social-positive oriented, distressed-inconsolable, and self-comfort oriented—and whether variations in infants’ heart-rate were correlated with them. Although some studies have examined the stability of discrete infant behaviors, none have investigated the stability of early regulatory patterns across FFSF episodes over time. Healthy full-term infants and their mothers (N = 112) were videotaped in the FFSF when infants were 3 and 9 months old. Infants’ regulatory patterns were scored with the Coding System for Regulatory Patterns in the FFSF. Infants’ heart-rate level during each episode of the FFSF was also assessed. The social-positive-oriented pattern was the most prevalent at both ages. Cross-tabulation analysis showed a robust stability (Cohen’s κ = .72) of the regulatory patterns from 3 to 9 months. The heart-rate level of infants with a social-positive-oriented pattern at 3 and 9 months showed recovery to baseline levels following the still-face. In contrast, the heart-rate level of infants with a distressed-inconsolable pattern at 9 months increased from the still-face to the reunion episode, whereas the heart-rate level of infants with a self-comfort-oriented pattern at 9 months did not change from the still-face to the reunion episodes. These results suggest that infants exhibit distinct organized regulatory patterns as early as 3 months that are stable over a 6-month interval and associated with variations in infants’ physiological responses across FFSF episodes at both ages.