Associations between Infant Behaviors during the Face-To-Face Still-Face Paradigm and Oppositional Defiant and Callous-Unemotional Behaviors in Early Childhood

Nicholas J Wagner; W Roger Mills-Koonce; Cathi B Propper; Michael T Willoughby; Pete D Rehder; Ginger A Moore; Martha J Cox

doi:10.1007/s10802-016-0141-0

Associations between Infant Behaviors during the Face-To-Face Still-Face Paradigm and Oppositional Defiant and Callous-Unemotional Behaviors in Early Childhood

J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2016 Nov;44(8):1439-1453. doi: 10.1007/s10802-016-0141-0.

Authors

Nicholas J Wagner¹, W Roger Mills-Koonce², Cathi B Propper³, Michael T Willoughby⁴, Pete D Rehder², Ginger A Moore⁵, Martha J Cox⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3270 Davie Hall, Room 217, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3270, USA. wagnern@live.unc.edu.
² University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Stone Building Room 165E, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6170, USA.
³ Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 100 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
⁴ RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709-2194, USA.
⁵ Penn State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA, 16801, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 3270, 215 Davie Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3270, USA.

Abstract

Deficits in social orienting (i.e., gazing toward caregivers) during dyadic interactions and reactivity to stressful stimuli have been identified as behavioral correlates of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in older children. The goal of the current study was to investigate infants' mother-directed gaze and reactivity during the face-to-face and still-face episodes of the face-to-face stillface paradigm performed at 6 months in the prediction of ODD and CU behaviors in early childhood. Using data from the Durham Child Health and Development study (n = 206), hierarchical regression analyses revealed that infants' negative reactivity during the still-face episode and mother-directed gaze during the face-to-face episode predicted fewer ODD behaviors in early childhood. Examination of interaction effects suggested that mother-directed gaze attenuated the negative relation between reactivity and ODD and CU behaviors in early childhood. The current study is one of the first to extend downward the investigation of ODD and CU behaviors into infancy.

Keywords: Callous-unemotional; Infancy; Oppositional defiant; Parenting; Reactivity.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / psychology*
Child Behavior / psychology*
Child, Preschool
Emotions
Female
Fixation, Ocular
Humans
Infant
Infant Behavior / psychology*
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mother-Child Relations / psychology*
Prospective Studies

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding