Distress, coping, and development in the first six months of life
Abstract
How infants cope with distress is a task of adapting to their environment in early infancy. To investigate infant coping behavior with distress, forty mothers and infants (m = 25, f = 15) were observed at 3 and 6 months of age. From previous research, the mother's non-responsiveness was defined as stressful for three-month-old infants. The purpose was to investigate (1) how infants cope with the still-face, and (2) how infants develop their coping behavior over the first 6 months of the first year. Three mother-infant face-to-face interactions situations at 3 months, and one stranger-infant face-to-face interaction in addition to the three mother conditions were observed at 6 months in the laboratory. The result showed that infants became distressed in the mother's still face condition at 3 and 6 months. Infants used "hand-mouth" to cope with the still face condition, and they also used another coping behavior: "hold their clothes" and "hold their hands." These coping behaviors corresponded to the infant motor developments between 3 & 6 months as measured by the Bayley Scale. By 6 months, the pattern of mother-infant interaction become more stable. Infant behavior in stranger-infant interaction showed the beginning of "wariness." Comparing the stranger's interaction to the mother's still face, the mother's still face was more stressful than the stranger's interaction at 6 months.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Fogel, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology
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