Only for toddlers who displayed distress before their mothers engaged in protective behavior, a three-way interaction existed among time, proportion of epochs including maternal behavior, and toddlers’ initial distress reaction. The relation between time and toddler distress (i.e., growth slopes) varied across values of proportion of epochs, only when toddlers displayed a high initial reaction. At Zero Initial Reaction, simple slopes were significant at High and Mean proportions (ps < .05) but not at Low proportion. At Mean Initial Reaction, simples slopes were significant (p < .001) at Low and Mean proportions as well as at a High proportion (p < .01). Significance of simple slopes at High Initial Reaction are noted within the graph.
**p < .01, ***p < .001.