Maternal style of emotional expression

This research describes the development of a semantic differential technique for rating nonverbal style of expressiveness in a population of expectant mothers. Nonverbal features (facial expression, gesture, voice quality) were emphasized as uniquely valid indices of emotional reactions towards parenthood and as the principal forms of interpersonal stimulation to which preverbal infants would be exposed. In the final trimester of pregnancy 46 primiparous mothers, representing a range of age, ethnic, and social-class backgrounds, were interviewed on videotape discussing childhood, marital adjustment, and expectations about parenthood. Interview selections were then presented to judges under three stimulus conditions: total videotape, videotrack, or audiotrack. Each mother's expressive style was rated on 12 bipolar adjective scales pertaining to affective tone, energy level, and involvement. Analyses demonstrated significant associations between nonverbal expressive style variables and measures of parent and child functioning over the first 2 years of life.