The Effectiveness of Maternal Regulatory Attempts in the Development of Infant Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation, the ability to flexibly modulate one’s emotional reactions, is necessary for positive psychological functioning throughout the lifespan. This capacity undergoes rapid change during infancy, and its successful development has significant implications for the onset of psychopathology in childhood. Caregivers play an instrumental role in the development of this ability, as infants require scaffolding to support emotion regulation before they are capable of self-regulating. Previous research has highlighted the importance of warm and supportive caregiving styles in fostering infant emotion regulation on a global level; however, few studies have focused on delineating the effectiveness of specific behaviours that caregivers use to regulate infants’ emotions in real time. Furthermore, it is unclear whether certain caregiver traits facilitate engagement in more successful regulation strategies. This dissertation addressed these gaps by: 1) Examining the differential effectiveness of maternal regulatory attempts (behavioural strategies initiated by mothers to assist infants with regulating emotional states; MRAs) in reducing 12- to 24-month-old infants’ frustration during a toy removal task; and 2) Assessing whether mind-mindedness (mothers’ ability to tune into their the important role played by mothers as socializing agents in the development of this foundational developmental ability.