Abstract

This dissertation explored the development and outcomes of mother-infant co-regulation of communication in low- and at-risk dyads. Interactions between mothers and their children were observationally coded for co-regulation when children were 6-, 12-, 18-, and 48-months-old based on their level of engagement and contribution to the interaction. Further information was gathered about parenting stress, demographics, and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms (at 4 and 7 years of age).
The participants in both studies comprised three groups of mother-infant dyads with varying levels of risk. They included the low-risk full-term group, the at-risk very low birthweight (VLBW)/preterm group, and the psycho-socially at-risk group whose mothers had childhood histories of adversity. In both studies, free-play interactions between mothers and their infants were coded for patterns of co-regulation.
Longitudinal results from multi-level modelling in Study 1 indicated that for low- and at-risk groups, dyads generally became increasingly synchronous and less asynchronous over time. However, VLBW/preterm boys whose mothers reported higher levels of parenting stress interacted more asynchronously over time. In contrast, psycho-socially at-risk dyads whose mothers reported more parenting stress interacted less asynchronously over time.
The interaction of co-regulation and parenting stress and its association with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms in early and middle childhood were explored in Study 2, using moderation analyses. Results showed that co-regulation had different moderating effects in low- and at-risk groups. Among low-risk dyads who engaged in more asynchronous patterns of co-regulation, parenting stress was associated with more child internalizing symptoms. However, among both groups of at-risk dyads who engaged in low levels of asynchronous patterns of co-regulation, parenting stress was associated with more child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Further investigation of the psycho-socially at-risk group in middle childhood revealed that this moderation effect extended longitudinally.
Findings from both studies are discussed in the context of Dynamic Systems (Fogel, 1993) and Transactional Models (Sameroff, 2009) approaches to social-emotional development. These results make significant contributions to our understanding of co-regulation in adverse circumstances and highlight its contribution to fostering healthy parent-child relationships. Importantly, this dissertation underscores consideration of context in the development of co-regulation.