Children’s socio-emotional development is shaped by the caregiver-child relationship. In early development, typical caregiver-infant interaction is thought to foster emotion regulation. Caregiver anxiety in the perinatal period has been associated with disrupted interaction. I examined this in a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between perinatal anxiety and caregiver-infant interaction, from a dynamic systems perspective. A systematic database search was performed, including studies with anxious caregivers and their child below 24 months of age. Nine studies (N = 845) met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Qualitative synthesis suggested over-responsive caregiving and longer episodes of tightly coordinated interaction among anxious caregivers and infants. Meta-analysis on a subset of studies showed that perinatal anxiety was positively associated with caregiver-infant synchrony (r = 0.16), such that higher levels of synchrony were observed in more anxious caregivers and their infants. Of note, literature was sparse and the risk of bias varied across studies, limiting insight into the relation between caregiver-infant interaction and child socio-emotional development. Results are discussed with respect to implications for clinical practice; video-based feedback interventions in the perinatal period may benefit from emphasising ‘sticky’ dyadic dynamics as well as body-behaviour links. Future research will benefit from more adequately powered, representative samples in longitudinal studies incorporating time series data.
| Date of Award | 1 Oct 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Awarding Institution | |
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| Supervisor | Tony Charman (Supervisor), Sam V. Wass (Supervisor) & Emily Jones (Supervisor) |
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A dynamic systems account of how perinatal anxiety impacts caregiver-infant synchrony
Smith, C. (Author). 1 Oct 2024
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Clinical Psychology