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Socioemotional and referential communication are primary expressions of interpersonal engagement in infancy and beyond. Early socioemotional communication in dyadic interactions may form a foundation for triadic referential communication and gesture production, yet the role of temperament in moderating their association has not been examined. We investigated whether early socioemotional communication behaviors, and infant temperamental reactivity, were associated with later pointing production. Participants were 51 infants (45% girls) and both their parents (86.5% Dutch). Early infant socioemotional communication (production of smile, vocalizations, and gaze) was observed during separate home-based face-to-face interactions with mothers, fathers, and strangers at 4 and 8 months. At both ages, mothers and fathers reported on infant temperamental surgency and negative affectivity, and overall means were calculated. Referential communication (declarative pointing) was measured during structured lab-based observations at 12 and 15 months. Socioemotional and referential communication behaviors were microanalytically coded second by second. Poisson multilevel regression analyses indicated interaction effects between temperament and smile, vocalizations, and gazes to the adult's face with each partner in predicting pointing. High levels of infant temperamental surgency tended to enhance positive associations between early socioemotional communication behaviors with mothers and fathers and pointing. By contrast, high levels of negative affectivity tended to dampen associations between early communication behaviors with strangers and pointing. Results highlight the importance of infant socioemotional communication with diverse partners and the moderating role of temperamental reactivity in predicting referential communication. Public Significance Statement: Infant referential communication (e.g., the pointing gesture) is a foundation of early social cognition and language development, yet documented behavioral precursors of pointing are scant. This study indicates that in interaction with temperamental reactivity, early behavioral patterns of infant socioemotional communication (smile, vocalizations, gaze) with diverse partners (mother, father, stranger) predict pointing. High levels of temperamental surgency tended to enhance positive associations between early socioemotional communication behaviors with mothers and fathers and pointing, while high levels of negative affectivity dampened associations between early communication behaviors with strangers and pointing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined changes in mothers' and fathers' rejection and psychological control during parent-child interactions after cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for children's anxiety disorders. We studied whether family CBT reduced rejection (vs. warmth) and psychological control (vs. autonomy-granting) more than child CBT, and whether parents own anxiety disorders resulted in smaller decreases in these parenting behaviors. Participants were 128 clinically referred children and adolescents (52 boys; Mage = 12.4, SDage = 2.7) with anxiety disorders and their parents, randomly assigned to either family CBT (n = 64) or child CBT (n = 64). The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule was used to assess children's and parents' anxiety disorders. Before and after treatment, parents' rejection and psychological control toward their child was rated during conflict and anxiety discussions of mother-child dyads, father-child dyads, and mother-father-child triads. As expected, during dyadic and triadic interactions, mothers' and fathers' rejection toward their child decreased after child and family CBT. Unexpectedly, during triadic conflict interactions, mothers, after child CBT and family CBT, as well as fathers, after child CBT, displayed increased psychological control. During triadic anxiety interactions, only mothers, after child CBT, showed increased psychological control. Changes in parenting did not depend on whether or not parents had anxiety disorders themselves. Thus, CBT for anxiety-disordered children can successfully reduce parents' rejection. The unexpected findings of increased psychological control after treatment, particularly by mothers in the presence of the father, suggests potential benefits of mothers' psychological control with anxious children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major developments in attachment research over the past 2 decades have introduced parental mentalization as a predictor of infant-parent attachment security. Parental mentalization is the degree to which parents show frequent, coherent, or appropriate appreciation of their infant's internal states. The present study examined the triangular relations between parental mentalization, parental sensitivity and attachment security. A total of 20 effect sizes (N = 974) on the relation between parental mentalization and attachment, 82 effect sizes (N = 6,664) on the relation between sensitivity and attachment and 24 effect sizes (N = 2,029) on the relation between mentalization and sensitivity were subjected to multilevel meta-analyses. The results showed a pooled correlation of r = .30 between parental mentalization and infant attachment security, and rs of .25 for the correlations between sensitivity and attachment security and between parental mentalization and sensitivity. A meta-analytic structural equation model was performed to examine the combined effects of mentalization and sensitivity as predictors of infant attachment. Together, the predictors explained 12% of the variance in attachment security. After controlling for the effect of sensitivity, the relation between parental mentalization and attachment remained, r = .24; the relation between sensitivity and attachment remained after controlling for parental mentalization, r = .19. Sensitivity also mediated the relation between parental mentalization and attachment security, r = .07, suggesting that mentalization exerts both direct and indirect influences on attachment security. The results imply that parental mentalization should be incorporated into existing models that map the predictors of infant-parent attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shyness has generally been investigated as a negative and unpleasant emotional state, strongly related to social anxiety and loneliness. However, recent evidence has suggested that shyness may have a positive and socially adaptive form. We examined whether the positive expression of shyness differs from the negative expression of shyness during toddlerhood, and whether a negative relation to anxiety exists. Participants were 30-month-old children (N = 102; 56 girls) who were asked to mimic animal sounds with a novel person (performance) and then to watch their performance (self-watching). Their expression of pleasure (positive reactions) and distress (negative reactions), as well as their positive and negative expressions of shyness, were coded. Children's temperamental level of shyness, sociability, and anxiety were measured with parent-reported questionnaires. Toddlers produced more positive and negative displays of shyness in the performance task than in the self-watching task. Children's positive expression of shyness was associated with lower parent-reported anxiety and higher sociability. Negative reactions, but not negative shyness, were related to children's higher anxiety levels and lower sociability. Multiple linear regression analyses confirmed a negative predictive role of the positive expression of shyness on anxiety. These results suggest that the positive expression of shyness can regulate early anxiety symptoms and already serves a social function in interpersonal interactions in early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to regulate one's emotions and behaviors is essential for adaptive functioning in society. We investigated whether parental mind-mindedness-parents' tendency to treat their children as mental agents-in infancy and toddlerhood predicts school-age children's self-regulation. The sample consisted of 125 mostly Dutch and White families. We assessed mothers' and fathers' appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments during free play with their 12- and 30-month-old child (70 girls and 55 boys). We measured children's physiological, temperamental, and behavioral self-regulation when children were 4 1/2 years old. Fathers' appropriate mind-related comments predicted children's higher temperamental and behavioral self-regulation and mothers' and fathers' nonattuned mind-related comments predicted children's lower physiological and temperamental self-regulation. Our findings emphasize the importance of both parents' mind-mindedness in children's socioemotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blushing has adaptive social functions. However, blushing is also assumed to be a hallmark of social anxiety and shyness. For the first time, blushing and its relation to the expressions of shyness and social anxiety was examined in early childhood. Four-and-a-half-year-old children (N = 102) were asked to perform (singing in front of an audience) and watched back their performance in the presence of that audience. Physiological blushing (blood volume pulse, blood volume, and cheek temperature) was measured, and positive (gaze and/or head aversion with smiling) and negative expressions of shyness (gaze and/or head aversion with negative facial expressions) were observed. In addition, both parents reported their child's social anxiety level. A higher level of blushing response was related to greater social anxiety in children who displayed few positive shy expressions, but not in children who displayed many positive shy expressions during the performance. Moreover, children who expressed many negative shy expressions were highly socially anxious, no matter their blushing. Our findings suggest that blushing appears to be an early indicator of social anxiety in children who are not able to successfully cope with fearful social situations. In contrast, blushing, in combination with positive shy behaviors, appears to be an adaptive social mechanism that may protect from heightened social anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)