Attachment in the making: mother and father sensitivity and infants' responses during the Still-Face Paradigm

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which infant and parent response trajectories during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) in early infancy predicted later infant-mother and infant-father attachment. Families (N=135) participated in the SFP when infants were 3, 5, and 7 months of age and participated in the Strange Situation procedure when infants were 12 months of age (mothers) and 14 months of age (fathers). Multilevel models showed that parent sensitivity assessed during the SFP was related to infants' affective and behavioral response trajectories during the SFP and that sensitivity and infant response trajectories predicted attachment. Results from the current study support the notion that parent and infant responses in the SFP with mothers and fathers during Bowlby's attachment in the making phase provide insight into the developing parent-child attachment relationship.

Keywords: Affect; Attachment; Fathers; Infancy; Parent sensitivity; Regulation.