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Positive Affectivity and Fear Trajectories in Infancy: Contributions of Mother–Child Interaction Factors
Author(s) -
Gartstein Maria A.,
Hancock Gregory R.,
Iverson Sydney L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12843
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , negative affectivity , temperament , positive affectivity , context (archaeology) , emotionality , personality , social psychology , paleontology , biology
Fear and positive emotionality were considered in a growth modeling context. Mothers, primarily Caucasian (91.9%) and of middle socioeconomic status, participated in play interactions with infants at 4 months ( N = 148). Infant fear and positive affectivity were evaluated at 6, 8, 10, and 12 months of age. A linear trajectory was superior in explaining growth for parent report and observation‐based indicators of positive affectivity and parent report of fearfulness; a piecewise model explained the nonlinear growth of observation‐based fear. Responsiveness in mother–infant interactions emerged as a significant predictor of the fear trajectory, with higher sensitivity predicting lower levels of observed fear. Reciprocity, tempo, emotional tone, and intensity of mother–infant interactions also made significant contributions to temperament development; however, analyses addressing these were exploratory.