Maternal Self-Regulation and Parenting: Contributions to Infant Self-Regulation

描述（由申请人提供）：获得足够的自我调节能力是一个重要的发展里程碑，对儿童的社会情感健康有着重要的影响。先前的研究已经注意到父母对孩子早期发展自我调节技能的重要性，特别是在生命的某些时期，比如婴儿期和幼儿期，孩子在情绪和行为的调节上严重依赖父母的支持。虽然初步证据表明父母的自我调节对养育子女很重要，但大多数研究并没有关注儿童早期的养育，也没有将父母的自我调节与儿童通过养育的自我调节联系起来。本研究的目的是评估母亲自我调节的多个方面（如情绪调节、努力控制、执行功能和生理调节[心率变异性]）对婴儿养育的影响，以及对婴儿直接或通过养育产生的自我调节的影响。使用不同的样本（n = 200）从一个城市和一个农村地区招募的发育正常的婴儿和母亲照顾者，目前的建议在两种情况下评估育儿。首先，在高婴儿痛苦的背景下，母亲自我调节对养育婴儿的影响是通过一个新的养育模拟任务来研究的，其中母亲照顾者与一个高度痛苦的、栩栩如生的婴儿模拟器进行互动。接下来，母亲与自己的婴儿的互动将在自由游戏的背景下进行评估，并在轻微的婴儿压力源之后。最后，婴儿情绪的自我调节在一个令人沮丧的任务将被检查。预期具有较好自我调节能力的母亲照顾者将在模拟任务中以及在游戏和轻度压力源后与自己的婴儿进行更适应性，更敏感的养育行为。此外，我们预计父母教养会在母亲自我调节对婴儿自我调节的影响中起到中介作用。目前的研究对早期发展的自我调节技能、发展精神病理学、育儿模式以及亲子干预计划都有启示。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The attainment of adequate self-regulation represents a critical developmental milestone that has significant implications for children's social-emotional wellbeing. Prior work has noted the importance of parenting for children's early developing self-regulatory skills, particularly at times in life, such as infancy and early toddlerhood, when children rely heavily on parental support in the regulation of emotion and behavior. Although preliminary evidence suggests that parental self-regulation is important for parenting, most studies have not focused on parenting in early childhood and have not linked parental self-regulation to children's self-regulation through parenting. The aim of the current proposal is to evaluate the effects of multiple aspects of maternal self-regulation (e.g., emotion regulation, effortful control, executive functions, and physiological regulation [heart rate variability]) on parenting of infants and on the emergence of infant self-regulation directly and through parenting. Using a diverse sample (n = 200) of typically developing infants and maternal caregivers recruited from one urban and one rural site, the current proposal evaluates parenting under two conditions. First, the implications of maternal self-regulation for parenting infants in the context of high infant distress is examined using a novel parenting simulation task wherein maternal caregivers interact with a highly distressed, life-like infant simulator. Next, the mother's interactions with her own infant will be evaluated in the context of free play and after a mild infant stressor. Finally, infant self-regulation of emotion during a frustrating task will be examined. It is anticipated that maternal caregivers who have better self-regulation will engage in more adaptive, sensitive parenting behavior during the simulation task as well as with their own infant during play and after a mild stressor. Furthermore, it is expected that parenting will mediate the effects of maternal self-regulation on infant self-regulation. The current study has implications for early developing self-regulatory skills, developmental psychopathology, models of parenting, as well as for parent-infant intervention programs. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The work described in the current study has substantial implications for mechanisms, such as parenting and parent self-regulation, which can support children at later risk for behavioral and emotional problems as well as for academic failure, through early developing self-regulation. As such, the current study has implications for early developing self-regulatory skills, developmental psychopathology, models of parenting, as well as for parent-infant intervention programs.