Skip to main content
PMC home page
NIHPA Author Manuscripts logoLink to NIHPA Author Manuscripts
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Aug 24.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Psychopathol. 2012 Feb;24(1):113–123. doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000708

Emotional Relationships between Mothers* and Infants: Knowns, Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns

Marc H Bornstein 1, Joan T D Suwalsky 1, Dana A Breakstone 1
PMCID: PMC3426791  NIHMSID: NIHMS335923  PMID: 22292998

Abstract

An overview of the literature pertaining to the construct of emotional availability is presented, illustrated by a sampling of relevant studies. Methodological, statistical, and conceptual problems in the existing corpus of research are discussed, and suggestions for improving future investigations of this important construct are offered.

Consider 3 studies of young infants and the implications they hold for early and enduring emotional relationships …

  • 1

    4-month-olds are more distressed during a maternal still-face than during physical separation, suggesting that mothers’ emotional unavailability is more troubling than their physical absence (Field, Vega-Lahr, Scafidi, & Goldstein, 1986).

  • 2

    Social referencing demonstrates that very young children use parents’ emotional expressions as guides in approaching or withdrawing from both physical and social stimuli (Sorce, Emde, Campos, & Klinnert, 1985).

  • 3

    In an ambiguous situation, a mother’s physical presence but emotional unavailability engenders displeasure and inhibits her child’s exploration, whereas her emotional availability has a significant effect on the infant’s affective, social, and exploratory behaviors (Sorce & Emde, 1981).

Consider also …

  • 4

    In a sample of 3000 adults, ages 25–74, from the U.S. National Survey of Midlife Development, early parental emotional support -- acts of caring, acceptance, and assistance -- proved a principal predictor of mental and physical health in adulthood, associations that persisted into the 7th decade of life (Brim et al., 1996).

A substantial (and ever enlarging) body of research exists on the emotional relationship that develops between a mother and her infant. A baby comes into the world totally dependent on adults for survival but also equipped with a set of characteristics and behaviors capable of eliciting attention and care from them. In addition to having a mother, it is necessary that the baby establish a focused relationship with her. Above and beyond the mere existence of that relationship, however, its quality is critical to fostering multiple developmental achievements in the child: solid senses of self, trust in others, and effectance. Relationship quality, in turn, depends on the fit among the infant’s needs and capacities to respond, the mother’s provision of necessary experiences, and the emotional tone of their interactions. Preverbal infants and mothers normally use emotional cues as primary sources of information when relating to each other. Seen in this light, emotional exchanges constitute mothers’ and children’s “first (extremely complex) language” with one another. The emotional availability construct is intended to capture the degree to which both mother and infant are accessible and able to respond appropriately to one another’s emotional signals (Biringen & Robinson, 1991). Furthermore, because emotional relationships unfold over time it is critical to adopt a developmental perspective to understand processes underlying individual pathways to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes.

In this article, we attempt to connect emotions to emotional relationships and to their measurement and meaning. A wealth of information on emotional availability in caregiver-child relationships now exists. We touch on what is now known as well as on the large gray area beyond current knowledge of unknowns and unknown unknowns.

Knowns

Emotions and Emotional Relationships

Human experience is inherently emotional, and human beings experience the world and others in it emotionally. Emotions arise from and form the foundation for many aspects of human attachments, social communication, and prosocial encounters (Emde, 1980). Contagion, instigation, and exchange of emotions are core features of human interaction, and emotions are powerful intra- and interpersonal regulators of behavior. Children’s ability to regulate attention, emotion, and arousal develops in the context of their primary caregiving relationships during infancy and appears to be fundamental for the balance of the life span in organizing behavior, social relationships, and adaptive functioning (Sameroff & Emde, 1989; Sroufe, 1996). In consequence, emotional availability constitutes a key feature of both parenting and children’s development (Bornstein, 2000).

Emotional interactions normally include both signaling and understanding in each partner, resulting in the emotional accessibility of one to the other (Biringen & Robinson, 1991; Emde, 1980, 2000; Emde & Easterbrooks, 1985). Expressing emotions through their voices, faces, and gestures, mothers engage their children, direct and maintain child attention, and build rhythms of expectable dyadic interaction (Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al., 2006; Martin, Clements, & Crnic, 2002; Weinberg & Tronick, 1996). Reciprocally, children provide multiple cues that express their emotional states and needs to their mothers (Barnard & Solchany, 2002). Reciprocal positive emotional sharing is indispensable to healthy caregiving and wholesome child-parent relationships and provides an important context for nurturing positive development in children (Aviezer, Sagi, Joels, & Ziv, 1999; Biringen & Robinson, 1991; Bretherton, 2000; Lovas, 2005).

Emotional Availability

Dyadic emotional availability (EA; Biringen, 2000; Biringen & Robinson 1991), an operationalization of shared emotional processes, refers to the quality of emotional exchanges between mothers and their children. EA encompasses both emotional signaling and emotional understanding in the partners as well as the emotional accessibility of one to the other (Biringen & Robinson, 1991; Emde, 2000; Emde & Easterbrooks, 1985). EA likely arises from constitutional needs and organismic development on the one hand and is shaped by situation-specific experiences and contexts on the other. A relationship construct, EA has been referred to as the “connective tissue” in mother-child relationships (Easterbrooks & Biringen, 2000, p. 123). Focus on EA constitutes a process-level understanding of adaptive and maladaptive, normal and abnormal, trajectories of development (Cicchetti & Toth, 2009). The emotionally available dyad is one in which both mother and infant recognize the other partner’s signals and affirm them. If a mother approaches her infant psychologically in a respectful, accepting, contingent manner, the infant enjoys interacting with her. This openness (reciprocity) on the infant’s part encourages continued interaction of the same quality from the mother.

A mother and her baby are partners in the child’s socialization. The basic behavioral agenda involved in the socialization process is common to all human mothers and infants, unfolds in part automatically, and hopefully results in healthy child outcomes. Regardless of the set of circumstances in which mother and infant find themselves, they must and do interact with each other from the moment the child is conceived. An Eskimo baby who trusts his mother will learn from her whatever she needs to teach him to survive and prosper in the Eskimo culture, just as the trusting baby in Seoul will learn how to function in Korean society. An Eskimo or Korean dyad with a less harmonious emotional exchange climate will be hampered in achieving desired socialization goals. EA conceptualizes a fluid two-way exchange where signals and behaviors from both partners constantly affect each other in bidirectional transaction (Bornstein, 2009; Sander, 2000; Stern, 1985; Trevarthen & Aitken, 2001; Van Egeren, Barratt, & Roach, 2001; Venuti, de Falco, Guisti, & Bornstein, 2008). EA describes the open, eager, collaborative, reciprocal communication that can occur between a mother and infant under optimal conditions – regardless of their culture, place of residence, or socioeconomic status.

Measuring Emotional Availability: The Emotional Availability Scales

Emotional availability is evaluated through observations and ratings of mother-infant interaction using the Emotional Availability Scales. The EA Scales assess specific behaviors of individuals but, at the same time are meant to constitute global ratings of dyads that capture joint interactional style. The scales are flexible with respect to age of child, relationship between child and caregiver, and setting. The EA Scales have been used with children of different ages (e.g., Biringen, Brown, et al., 2000; Easterbrooks, Biesecker, & Lyons-Ruth, 2000), with mothers, fathers, and other caregivers, in low and high social-risk populations (e.g., Oyen, Landy, & Hilburn-Cobb, 2000; Swanson, Beckwith, & Howard, 2000), and in a wide variety of different nations, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Israel, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey (Biringen, 2005; Bornstein et al., 2008; Oyen et al., 2000; Sagi, Koren-Karie, Gini, Ziv, & Joels, 2002; Ziv, Aviezer, Gini, Sagi, & Koren-Karie, 2000).

The EA Scales consist of six globally rated dimensions concerned with emotional communication and interaction. Four scales assess maternal behavior: Sensitivity, Structuring, Nonintrusiveness, and Nonhostility. Two scales capture infant/child behavior: Responsiveness and Involvement of mother. Although descriptive of the behavior of one actor, each scale is coded by observing that actor in interaction with the second actor, so the rating of one actor’s behavior takes the partner’s responses to it into account. Together, EA ratings yield assessments of the dyad’s level and style of emotional functioning from 6 different behavioral perspectives. Each scale has a cut-point above which the dyad is presumed to be functioning in a manner sufficient to meet each partner’s emotional needs and below which the dyad is believed to be at risk for negative sequelae. A more complete description of the Emotional Availability Scales can be found in Biringen and Easterbrooks (2012).

Psychometrics

Reliability, stability, and continuity

Reliability and stability are defined as consistency across time or context in the relative ranks of individuals in a group in the short- and long-term, respectively. Continuity describes group mean level comparison. Reliability/stability and continuity are statistically independent and reflect conceptually distinct realms of development (Bornstein & Bornstein, 2008; McCall, 1981; Wohlwill, 1973); that is, rank order and mean level analyses assess different features of development across time or context. Studies employing multiple assessments of the EA Scales across time or context have shed light on the reliability/stability and continuity of EA, although not all investigators report both rank order and mean level, and few have studied context (see Table 1 for illustrations). Reliable individual differences in emotional availability across shorter periods of time are conceived to reflect characteristics of the dyad. The extant literature supports short-term reliability of EA both in infancy and in toddlerhood. EA is also moderately stable from infancy to toddlerhood. EA also evidences short-term continuity in infancy (Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al., 2006) and toddlerhood (Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes, 2006), and long-term continuity between infancy and toddlerhood in the child, but maternal Sensitivity, Structuring, and Nonintrusiveness change across this developmental period (Bornstein et al., 2010).

Table 1.

Reliability and Stability of the EA Scales (illustrative, not exhaustive)

Short-term Long-term
Reliability/Stability
Mother Robinson, Little, & Biringen (1993); Ziv, Gini, Guttman, & Sagi (1997); Biringen, Matheny, Bretherton, Renouf, & Sherman (2000); Lovas (2005); Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al. (2006); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006) Robinson, Little, & Biringen (1993); Ziv, Gini, Guttman, & Sagi (1997); Biringen, Matheny, Bretherton, Renouf, & Sherman (2000); Lovas (2005); Howes & Obregon (2009); Bornstein et al. (2010); Bornstein, Putnick, & Suwalsky (2011a); Easterbrooks, Bureau, & Lyons-Ruth (2012)
Child Robinson, Little, & Biringen (1993); Ziv, Gini, Guttman, & Sagi (1997); Biringen, Matheny, Bretherton, Renouf, & Sherman (2000); Lovas (2005); Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al. (2006); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006) Robinson, Little, & Biringen (1993); Ziv, Gini, Guttman, & Sagi (1997); Biringen, Matheny, Bretherton, Renouf, & Sherman (2000); Lovas (2005); Howes & Obregon (2009); Bornstein et al. (2010); Bornstein, Putnick, & Suwalsky ( 2011a); Easterbrooks, Bureau, & Lyons-Ruth (2012)
Continuity
Mother Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al. (2006); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006) Biringen, Emde, Campos, & Appelbaum (1995); Biringen et al. (1999); Biringen et al. (2000); Lovas (2005); Bornstein et al. (2010); Stack et al. (2012)
Child Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al. (2006); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006) Biringen, Emde, Campos, & Appelbaum (1995); Biringen et al. (1999); Biringen et al. (2000); Lovas (2005); Bornstein et al. (2010); Stack et al. (2012)
Open in a new tab

Validity

Validity is the extent to which an instrument measures what it claims to measure. A growing body of literature using the EA Scales shows that both mother and child components of EA relate to key aspects of the mother-child relationship (for reviews see Biringen, 2000; Pipp-Siegel & Biringen, 1998) as well as to maternal characteristics (Biringen, Matheny, Bretherton, Renouf, & Sherman, 2000; Easterbrooks, Chaudhuri, & Gestsdottir, 2005; Ziv, Sagi, Gini, Karie-Koren, & Joels, 1996) and child behaviors (Pressman, Pipp-Siegel, Yoshinaga-Itano, & Deas, 1999; Sagi, Tirosh, Ziv, Guttman, & Lavie, 1998; Wiefel et al., 2005). Notably, the EA Scales have been examined in relation to concurrent and longitudinal measures of attachment (see Easterbrooks & Biringen, 2000, 2005a, 2005b).

Analysis

The EA Scales lend themselves to complementary analyses from the “variable” (individual) and (two types of) “person” (dyad) perspectives (Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes, 2006). The more common variable approach to assessment uses single variables or combinations of variables as the main conceptual and analytical units (Hartmann, Pelzel, & Abbott, 2011). A single datum for an individual derives psychological meaning from its position relative to the positions of data from other individuals on a given dimension. Some mothers are high in Sensitivity, others low. However, the configuration of multiple individual variables in a system also has meaning and yields unique information about the individual or dyad. The person approach to analysis is based on a wholistic-interactionistic perspective on development and functioning that sees the dyad as an organized whole, developing and functioning as a totality (Magnusson & Allen, 1983). In the person approach, each datum derives its psychological meaning from its place in a pattern of data representing positions on latent dimensions under study. The totality derives its characteristic features and properties from interactions among its elements rather than from the effect of isolated parts of the totality or as an integration of variables. At the individual level, a person analysis would focus on the combination of maternal or child scale scores; at the dyad level, such an analysis would focus on the combination of maternal and child scale scores.

Findings

Illustrative examples from the existing EA literature appear in Figure 1 and Table 2. Taken together, these studies establish EA as an important factor in maternal-child relationships that can be reliably and validly assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Open in a new tab

Emotional availability in mothers and children: A guide to their associations, sources, and moderators.

Table 2.

Group Comparisons of EA Scales (illustrative, not exhaustive)

Comparison Reference
Gender Parent Ziv, Aviezer, Gini, Sagi, & Koren-Karie, (2000); Volling, McElwain, Notaro, & Herrera (2002); Lovas (2005); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006); de Falco, Venuti, Esposito, & Bornstein (2008)
Child Robinson, Little, & Biringen (1993); Biringen, Robinson, & Emde (1994); Robinson & Biringen (1995); Biringen et al. (1999); Ziv, Aviezer, Gini, Sagi, & Koren-Karie, (2000); Lovas (2005); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006); Bornstein et al. (2008); de Falco, Venuti, Esposito, & Bornstein (2008); Bornstein et al. (2010)
Within-Family Firstborn-Secondborn Bornstein, Putnick, & Suwalsky (2011c)
Twins Robinson & Little (1994); Venuti, Giusti, Gini, & Bornstein (2008)
Daycare Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study (1995); Zimmerman & McDonald (1995); Burchinal & Cryer (2003); Zimmerman & Fassler, (2003); NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2006); Bornstein, Putnick, & Suwalsky (2011b); Biringen, Altenhofen, et al. (2012)
Culture Aviezer, Sagi, Joels, & Ziv (1999); Biringen (2000); Easterbrooks & Biringen (2000); Easterbrooks & Biringen (2005b); Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al. (2006); Bornstein, Gini, Suwalsky, Putnick, & Haynes (2006); Bornstein et al. (2008); Chaudhuri, Easterbrooks, & Davis (2009); Howes & Obregon (2009); Bornstein et al. (2010)
At-Risk Adoption Garvin, Tarullo, Van Ryzin, & Gunnar (2012); van den Dries, Juffer, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Alink (2012)
Adolescent Parent Culp, Applebaum, Osofsky, & Levy (1988); Frankel, Lindahl, & Harmon (1992); Barratt & Roach (1995); Culp, Osofsky, & O’Brien (1996); Berlin, Brady-Smith, & Brooks-Gunn (2002); Moore & Brooks-Gunn (2002); Zimmerman, L., & Fassler, I. (2003); Bornstein, Putnick, Suwalsky, & Gini (2006); Chaudhuri, Easterbrooks, & Davis (2009)
Depressed Easterbrooks, Biesecker, Lyons-Ruth, & Carper (1996); Easterbrooks, Biesecker, & Lyons-Ruth (2000); Biringen, Vliegen, Bijttebier, & Cluckers (2002); Vliegen et al. (2005); Killeen & Teti (2012)
Deaf Koester, Brooks, & Traci (1996); Pipp-Siegel, Blair, Deas, Pressman, & Yoshinaga-Itano (1998); Pressman, Pipp-Siegel, Yoshinaga-Itano, Kubicek, & Emde (1998); Biringen, Fidler, Barrett, & Kubicek (2005)
Blind Campbell (2007); Campbell & Johnston (2009)
Drug abusing Swanson, Beckwith, & Howard (2002); Fraser, Harris-Britt, Thakkallapalli, Kurtz-Costes, & Martin (2010); Bornstein, Mayes, & Park, (2011)
Down syndrome Lovas (2005); de Falco, Cimmino, La Femina, , & Venuti (2008). Venuti, de Falco, Giusti, & Bornstein (2008); de Falco, Venuti, Esposito, & Bornstein (2008)
ASD Biringen, Fidler, Barrett, & Kubicek (2005); Dolev, Oppenheim, Koren-Karie, & Yirmiya (2009); Koren-Karie, Oppenheim, Dolev, Yirmiya (2009); Oppenheim, Koren-Karie, Dolev, & Yirmiya (2009)
Cancer Bornstein, Scrimin, et al. (2011)
Open in a new tab

Sources

Infant behaviors

For infants, facial expression, vocalization, and exploration serve as principal behavioral expressions of state of arousal as well as cognitive, communicative, emotional, and social functioning. These behaviors are frequent and prominent, ones that mothers monitor closely and to which they respond. Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky, and Haynes (2011) reported that infant looking at mother, smiling, and efficient exploration of objects within reach correlate with Responsiveness. Both negative facial expression and distress vocalization are inversely related to Responsiveness. Amount of infant smiling also differentiates dyads with varying levels of maternal emotional availability. The more infants smile, the more emotionally available are their mothers. By contrast, no association obtains between infant cry and maternal emotional availability (Esposito, Venuti, de Falco, & Bornstein, 2009). Responsiveness also correlates with maternal age (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky, et al., 2011).

Maternal behaviors and characteristics

Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky, et al. (2011) reported that maternal bathing and child grooming and language correlate with Sensitivity. Parenthood at young ages is generally associated with less favorable maternal behavior (Barratt & Roach, 1995; Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998; Moore & Brooks-Gunn, 2002; Pomerleau, Scuccimarri, & Malcuit, 2003). For example, teen mothers are less verbal, less sensitive, and less responsive to their children than older mothers, and they tend to provide a less stimulating home environment (Culp, Appelbaum, Osofsky, & Levy, 1988; Luster & Dubow, 1990; Moore, Morrison, & Greene, 1997), but maternal age is positively associated with richer, more responsive, and more abundant speech to infants and toddlers. (e.g., Berlin, Brady-Smith, & Brooks-Gunn, 2002; Field, 1981; Osofsky & Osofsky, 1970; Rowe, Pan, & Ayoub, 2005). Regardless of maternal age, most mothers and children fall into adequately functioning ranges of the EA Scales (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky, et al., 2011). However, maternal age correlates with maternal EA Scales: as maternal age increases, so do Sensitivity and Structuring (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky, et al., 2011; Bornstein, Putnick, Suwalsky, & Gini, 2006). Controlling for several demographic characteristics, teenage mothers are more intrusive than adult mothers (Bornstein, Putnick, et al., 2006).

Other maternal characteristics are associated with EA. Maternal education and intelligence correlate positively with Sensitivity (Bornstein, Hahn, Suwalsky, et al., 2011; Bornstein, Hendricks, Haynes, & Painter, 2007), as do maternal intelligence and family SES to Responsiveness. Mothers’ openness in personality as well as their knowledge of child development and parenting relate to both maternal Sensitivity and infant Responsiveness (Bornstein et al., 2007). These findings illustrate some of the (surely many) conditions and factors that influence the development and expression of emotional availability between a mother and her baby and demonstrate the necessity of investigating contextual facilitators of and constraints on the quality of early emotional relationships.

Unknowns

The study of mother-infant emotional availability has still many unresolved issues. In research to date, some important assumptions about and fundamental characteristics of EA have been glossed over and need to be addressed. The following issues call for future work.

Measurement

Biringen and Easterbrooks (2012) suggest that dyads should be observed for a minimum of 20 min before ratings with the EA Scales are made. However, observation periods reported in the EA literature range from 5 to 60 minutes. The findings of previous studies using 10- to 15-min observations lend credence to the validity of these temporal parameters in measuring EA (see Easterbrooks et al., 2000; Swanson et al., 2000; Ziv et al., 2000), although longer observations might be recommendable (Biringen, Damon, et al., 2005). Investigators must allow caregiver-child dyads enough time to settle into their typical interaction style before assessing EA if they seek valid data. The context of the interaction (e.g., home vs. laboratory) has been shown so far to be less important to the expression of EA than are individual differences in dyads (Bornstein, Gini, Putnick, et al., 2006; Bornstein et al., 2008).

Because of their dyadic nature, the EA Scales are correlated to varying degrees. On the one hand, empirical evidence seems to suggest that two of the four maternal scales (at least Sensitivity and Structuring) as well as the two child scales (Responsiveness and Involvement of Mother) correlate highly with one another. In most studies, mother and child scales also intercorrelate. This covariation has been ignored, and statistical analyses have been reported as though the scales were independent. On the other hand, it appears that Sensitivity sometimes gives a pattern of results that is not the same as Structuring, or vice versa. Why, such “unique” relations should emerge when component scales are correlated is unclear, but worthy of investigation. Future studies should consistently report correlations among scales and consider their meaning when interpreting results. This issue also begs the question of whether researchers should continue to emphasize and use all scales, select one or another as representative of the dyad, or (perhaps) create composites of them. Consensus on this score would greatly strengthen future research.

Interpretation

The same behavior or set of behaviors can enhance dyadic functioning or impede it depending on how both partners experience it. The “both” is critical. Caregiving ministrations or interaction sequences believed by a mother to be appropriate may not be if her infant does not respond positively to them. The tickling mother is a delight for the baby with a high sensory threshold, but a source of pain for the baby with a threshold that is low. The tickles may be the same in both relationships, but perhaps emotional reactions differ dramatically. The baby who vocalizes frequently is perceived by the mother who seeks stimulation as a source of fascination and endless amusement, while the mother who feels overwhelmed by a perceived need to respond to every signal of her child will hear those vocalizations with irritation and despair. The dyadic nature of the EA Scales sets them apart from single-actor coding systems. However, deep tensions between dyadic versus monadic operationalization, analysis, and interpretation of data pervade the extant EA literature. The confusion is not just that scales are labeled “mother” or “child,” but (echoing an earlier critique) analyses consistently treat them independently. How the scales are construed makes a critical difference in how results based on them are interpreted. Sensitivity cannot be construed as a maternal characteristic or Responsiveness as a quality of the child. Rather, both scales assess behavioral manifestations of the mutuality that has developed between a particular mother and a particular child. Moving forward, it behooves investigators to be more precise and consistent in the way they conceptualize and interpret measures of EA. Increased rigor in this respect will benefit the entire field and deepen our understanding of this very complex construct.

Predictive Validity

The value of EA as a developmental construct will turn to a large degree on its long-term meaning. Developmental analysis highlights the critical role of timing in the organization of behavior and its underscores multiple determinants (Cicchetti & Pogge-Hesse, 1982). The literature to date generally supports the important role that emotional availability in adult-child relationships plays for children’s healthy development, although much research remains to be done in this regard.

Socioemotional status in children

Maternal sensitivity has been linked to a host of positive child characteristics and outcomes in domains such as independence, social responsibility, self-confidence, self-esteem, and aggression (Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Pettit & Bates, 1989). Pianta, Smith, and Reeve (1991) found that aspects of observed mother-child interaction prior to school entry (particularly maternal supportive presence and quality of instruction, and child affection to mother and task orientation) predicted children’s adjustment and competence in kindergarten as rated by teachers. Kogan and Carter (1996) found that EA during free play is associated with reunion behavior after the still-face situation.

Cognitive status in children

Pressman, Pipp-Siegel, Yoshinaga-Itano, Kubicek, and Ernde (2000) reported that maternal as well as child EA in a group of mother-toddler pairs predicts children’s language gains two years later in a sample of deaf/hard-of-hearing children. Emotional availability has also been shown to predict variance in “school readiness” (Biringen, Skillern, Mone, & Pianta, 2005).

Unknown Unknowns

We pose the following questions for the next generation of scientists as they pursue a more in-depth understanding of the origins, mechanisms, and developmental consequences of varying degrees of emotional availability in the mother-child relationship. What is experienced of an emotional nature by each partner when interactions are synchronous and when they are not? How do emotional responses shape continuing interactions? What are the emotional characteristics and mechanisms involved in dyadic disjoint? What characteristics of the mother and child enable him or her to “read” the other’s signals accurately so as to contribute to emotionally satisfying interactions? A frontier in the study of EA will be to grasp these emotional processes at the physiological level. In another area, work lies ahead in probing the deeper constructs underlying emotional availability. What, for example, is the nature of hostility and how do variations in its expression influence children’s behavior and development? The levels of the EA Scale need to be more precisely delineated so as to help generate more focused research questions and assist with the interpretation of results. The highest level of Sensitivity, for example, is “optimal.” What does optimal mean? Definitional consensus will contribute to comparability across investigations. Several editions of the EA Scales have been published, with wide variation in which versions are used, often without clear citation, across studies. How will the new 4th Edition fare? How will the EA Scales behave with proper statistical controls? How do family SES and/or parental education affect EA within dyads? How do parental beliefs and behaviors correlate with EA? How does social support affect EA? What are the origins of EA in mothers and children? Can we successfully intervene to enhance EA? All of these and other questions remain unanswered, begging thoughtful investigation.

Conclusions

The construct of emotional availability and its operationalization in the EA Scales is appealing. The scales place primary emphasis on the mother-infant dyad and the relationship that develops within it; they focus research attention on the centrality of emotional influences in early development; they also differentiate among various behavioral domains that contribute to the emotional climate that develops within the dyad. The qualitative nature of the Scales captures the subtle nuances and coloring of behavior. The Scales highlight individual differences in relationships and promote appreciation of the wide range of conditions under which adaptive functioning in children can and does develop. The fact that the burgeoning literature on EA addresses the issue from multiple perspectives (as demonstrated by the studies) – from maternal brain activity through contextual influences like parental abuse, the experience of child care, and the pervading effects of culture is heuristic and helps consolidate what we know about emotional availability while also exposing areas still needing research.

One can think of the mother-child dyad as a sort of docking mechanism that generates energy both for parenting and for child development. A new infant must connect to a parent-figure to ignite the potential to develop. The process is reciprocal; the (developing) infant stimulates the mother who, in turn, nurtures the baby. Energy for one partner or process does not exist without energy for the other. But, the quality of the energy and its optimal generation will vary depending on the “fit” of infant and mother with one another. The fit need not be perfect (and never is), but the nature of the dyadic relationship that is established depends on the goodness of the fit.

Emotions are presumably adaptive and guide survival strategies in parenting and development. Experiences that function to promote the survival of the infant should (and will) be experienced as positive—a loving touch, a soft voice, a full tummy, a dry diaper, a colorful mobile, a soothing lullaby—and the infant’s behavioral response will reflect his or her acceptance of them. Experiences that endanger survival should (and will) be experienced as negative—hunger, a protracted wait for mother to appear when she is needed, absence of maternal affect, intrusive handling, overstimulation—and will elicit distress or withdrawal in the baby. The infant is designed to find the human face, voice, and touch interesting and pleasurable but will stop responding to them positively if the mother does not tailor her ministrations to the baby’s capacity to receive them. The infant’s response, in turn, engenders emotional reactions in the mother that shape her ongoing parenting. In this way, mother and infant take each other’s measure and jointly shape the dyadic path they travel together.

Emotional availability appears to be a universal aspect of interactions between parents and their children. Although the human infant possesses many inborn capacities and is resilient to an astonishing degree, the course of his or her development depends, from the very beginning, on the set of dyadic circumstances that fate provides. The same newborn, placed into different dyadic contexts, will achieve different variants of his or her potential. The study of emotional availability is, thus, perhaps best understood in a framework of necessary versus desirable demands for development. A necessary demand is that parents and children be adequately emotionally available to one another so that the child can survive. A desirable demand is that the emotional relationship they co-construct allows the child, beyond surviving, to thrive, prosper, and achieve his or her full potential.

Acknowledgments

Preparation was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NICHD.

Footnotes

*

Here we use the term “mother” both specifically and generically – specifically, because the vast majority of the literature in adult-/caregiver-child relationships has focused on mothers and, generically, to stand for mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, daycare providers, et al., all of whom interact with young children.

References

  1. Aviezer O, Sagi A, Joels T, Ziv Y. Emotional availability and attachment representations in Kibbutz infants and their mothers. Development Psychology. 1999;35:811–821. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.35.3.811. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barnard KE, Solchany JE. Mothering. In: Bornstein MH, editor. Handbook of parenting Vol. 3 Status and social conditions of parenting. 2. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; 2002. pp. 3–25. [Google Scholar]
  3. Barratt MS, Roach MA. Early interactive processes: Parenting by adolescent and adult single mothers. Infant Behavior and Development. 1995;18:97–109. doi: 10.1016/0163-6383(95)90011-X. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  4. Berlin LJ, Brady-Smith C, Brooks-Gunn J. Links between childbearing age and observed maternal behaviors with 14-month-olds in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2002;23:104–129. doi: 10.1002/imhj.10007. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  5. Biringen Z. Emotional availability: Conceptualization and research findings. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2000;70:104–14. doi: 10.1037/h0087711. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Biringen Z. Training and reliability issues with the emotional availability scales. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005;26:404–405. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20060. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Biringen Z, Altenhofen S, Aberle J, Baker M, Brosal A, Bennett S, Lee C, Moorlag A, Swaim R. Emotional availability, attachment, and intervention in center-based child care for infants and toddlers. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000630. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Biringen Z, Brown D, Donaldson L, Green S, Krcmarik S, Lovas G. Adult attachment interview: Linkages with dimensions of emotional availability for mothers and their pre-kindergarteners. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:188–202. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085554. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Biringen Z, Damon J, Grigg W, Mone J, Pipp-Siegel S, Skillern S, Stratton J. Emotional Availability: Differential predictions to infant attachment and kindergarten adjustment based on observation time and context. Infant Mental health Journal. 2005;26:295–308. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20054. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Biringen Z, Easterbrooks MA. Emotional Availability (EA): Concept, research, and window on development and psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000617. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Biringen Z, Emde RN, Campos JJ, Appelbaum MI. Affective reorganization in the infant, the mother, and the dyad: The role of upright locomotion and its timing. Child Development. 1995;66(2):499–514. Retrieved from http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0009-3920&site=1. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Biringen Z, Emde RN, Brown D, Lowe L, Myers S, Nelson D. Emotional availability and emotion communication in naturalistic mother-infant interactions: Evidence for gender relations. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality. 1999;14:463–478. [Google Scholar]
  13. Biringen Z, Fidler DJ, Barrett KC, Kubicek L. Applying the Emotional Availability Scales to children with disabilities. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005;26:369–391. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20058. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Biringen Z, Matheny A, Bretherton I, Renouf A, Sherman M. Maternal representation of the self as parent: Connections with maternal sensitivity and maternal structuring. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:218–232. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085572. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Biringen Z, Robinson J. Emotional availability in mother-child interactions: A reconceptualization for research. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1991;6:258–271. doi: 10.1037/h0079238. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Biringen Z, Robinson JL, Emde RN. Maternal sensitivity in the second year: Gender-based relations in the dyadic balance of control. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1994;64:78–90. doi: 10.1037/h0079487. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Biringen Z, Skillern S, Mone J, Pianta R. Emotional availability is predictive of the emotional aspects of children’s “school readiness”. Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology. 2005;1:81–97. Retrieved from http://www.pace.edu/press/journals/journal-of-early-childhood-and-infant-psychology. [Google Scholar]
  18. Biringen Z, Vliegen N, Bijttebier P, Cluckers G. Werkversie EAS Selfreport Niet gepubliceerd werkdocument. 2002. [The Emotional Availability – Dutch Self-Report – pilot version. Unpublished document.] [Google Scholar]
  19. Bornstein MH. Infancy: Emotions and temperament. In: Kazdin AE, editor. The encyclopedia of psychology. Vol. 2. New York: American Psychological Association and Oxford University Press; 2000. pp. 278–284. [Google Scholar]
  20. Bornstein MH. Toward a model of culture ↔ parent ↔ child transactions. In: Sameroff A, editor. The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2009. pp. 139–161. [Google Scholar]
  21. Bornstein MH, Bornstein L. Psychological stability. In: Darity WA Jr, editor. International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences. 2. Vol. 8. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA; 2008. pp. 74–75. [Google Scholar]
  22. Bornstein MH, Gini M, Putnick DL, Haynes OM, Painter KM, Suwalsky JTD. Short-term reliability and continuity of emotional availability in mother-child dyads across contexts of observation. Infancy. 2006;10:1–16. doi: 10.1207/s15327078in1001_1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Bornstein MH, Gini M, Suwalsky JTD, Putnick DL, Haynes OM. Emotional availability in mother-child dyads: Short-term stability and continuity from variable-centered and person-centered perspectives. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 2006;52:547–571. doi: 10.1353/mpq.2006.0024. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  24. Bornstein MH, Hahn C-S, Haynes OM. Maternal personality, parenting cognitions, and parenting practices. Developmental Psychology. 2011;47:658–675. doi: 10.1037/a0023181. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Bornstein MH, Hahn C-S, Suwalsky JTD, Haynes OM. Maternal and infant behavior and context associations with mutual emotion availability. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2011;32:70–94. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20284. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Bornstein MH, Hendricks C, Haynes OM, Painter KM. Maternal sensitivity and child responsiveness: Associations with social context, maternal characteristics, and child characteristics in a multivariate analysis. Infancy. 2007;12:189–223. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2007.tb00240.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Bornstein MH, Mayes LC, Park J. Language, play, emotional availability, and acceptance in cocaine exposed and non-cocaine exposed young children and their mothers. 2011. Manuscript in preparation. [Google Scholar]
  28. Bornstein MH, Putnick DL, Heslington M, Gini M, Suwalsky JTD, Venuti P, de Falco S, Giusti Z, Zingman de Galperín C. Mother–child emotional availability in ecological perspective: Three countries, two regions, two genders. Developmental Psychology. 2008;44:666–680. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.44.3.666. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Bornstein MH, Putnick DL, Suwalsky JTD. A longitudinal process analysis of mother-child emotional relationships in a rural Appalachian European American community. 2011a. Manuscript in preparation. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Bornstein MH, Putnick DL, Suwalsky JTD. Mutual emotional availability in mother-infant and caregiver-infant dyads: Process analyses of interactions in three childcare arrangements. 2011b. Manuscript in preparation. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Bornstein MH, Putnick DL, Suwalsky JTD. Mutual emotional availability in mother-infant firstborn and secondborn dyads: A within-family study. 2011c. Manuscript in preparation. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Bornstein MH, Putnick DL, Suwalsky JTD, Gini M. Maternal chronological age, prenatal and perinatal history, social support, and parenting of infants. Child Development. 2006;77:875–892. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00908.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Bornstein MH, Scrimin S, Putnick DL, Capello F, de Falco S, Carli M, Pillon M. Neurodevelopmental functioning in very young children undergoing treatment for non-CNS cancers. 2011. Manuscript in preparation. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Bornstein MH, Suwalsky JTD, Putnick DL, Gini M, Venuti P, de Falco S, Heslington M, Zingman de Galperín C. Developmental continuity and stability of emotional availability in the family: Two ages and two genders in child–mother dyads from two regions in three countries. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 2010;34:385–397. doi: 10.1177/0165025409339080. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Bretherton I. Emotional availability: An attachment perspective. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:233–241. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085581. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Brim OG, Baltes PB, Bumpass LL, Cleary PD, Featherman DL, Hazzard WR, Shweder RA. National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), 1995–1996. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research; 1996. [Computer File] (2nd ICPSR version) Retrieved from http://sodapop.pop.psu.edu/codebooks/midus/1995-96/02760-0001-Codebook.pdf. [Google Scholar]
  37. Burchinal MR, Cryer D. Diversity, child care quality, and developmental outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. 2003;18(4):401–426. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2003.09.003. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  38. Campbell J. Understanding the emotional needs of children who are blind. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. 2007;101(6):351–355. Retrieved from http://www.afb.org/jvib/jvib_main.asp. [Google Scholar]
  39. Campbell J, Johnston C. Emotional availability in parent-child dyads where children Are blind. Parenting: Science and Practice. 2009;9:216–227. doi: 10.1080/15295190902844456. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  40. Chaudhuri JH, Easterbrooks MA, Davis CR. The relation between emotional availability and parenting style: Cultural and economic factors in a diverse sample of young mothers. Parenting: Science and Practice. 2009;9:277–299. doi: 10.1080/15295190902844613. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  41. Cicchetti D, Pogge-Hesse P. Possible contributions of the study of organically retarded persons to developmental theory. In: Zigler E, Balla D, editors. Mental retardation: The developmental-difference controversy. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1982. pp. 277–318. [Google Scholar]
  42. Cicchetti D, Toth SL. The past achievements and future promises of developmental psychopathology: The coming of age of a discipline. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2009;50:16–25. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01979.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Coley RL, Chase-Lansdale PL. Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood: Recent evidence and future directions. American Psychologist. 1998;53:152–166. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.53.2.152. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Cost, Quality & Child Outcomes Study Team. Public Report. 2. Denver: Economics Department, University of Colorado at Denver; 1995. Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes in Child Care Center. [Google Scholar]
  45. Culp RE, Appelbaum MI, Osofsky JD, Levy JA. Adolescent and older mothers: Comparison between prenatal maternal variables and newborn interaction measures. Infant Behavior and Development. 1988;11:353–362. doi: 10.1016/0163-6383(88)90019-7. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  46. Culp AM, Osofsky JD, O’Brien M. Language patterns of adolescent and older mothers and their one-year-old children: A comparison study. First Language. 1996;16:61–75. doi: 10.1177/014272379601604604. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  47. de Falco S, Cimmino M, La Femina F, Venuti P. Qualità della relazione affettiva madre-bambino e abilità di gioco in bambini con Sindrome di Down. [Quality of affective mother-child relations and game play ability in children with Down’s syndrome.] Infanzia e Adolescenza. 2008;7(3):124–137. [Google Scholar]
  48. de Falco S, Esposito G, Venuti P, Bornstein MH. Fathers’ play with their Down Syndrome children. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 2008;52:490–502. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2008.01052.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Dolev S, Oppenheim D, Koren-Karie N, Yirmiya N. Emotional Availability in mother-child interaction: The case of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Parenting: Science and Practice. 2009;9:183–197. doi: 10.1080/15295190902844332. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  50. Easterbrooks MA, Biesecker G, Lyons-Ruth K. Infancy predictors of emotional availability in middle childhood: The roles of attachment security and maternal depressive symptomatology. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:170–187. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085545. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Easterbrooks MA, Biesecker G, Lyons-Ruth K, Carper A. Infancy predictors of emotional availability in middle childhood: The role of attachment and maternal depression. Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Meeting of the International Conference on Infant Studies; Providence, RI. 1996. Apr, [Google Scholar]
  52. Easterbrooks MA, Biringen Z. Guest editors’ introduction to the special issue: Mapping the terrain of emotional availability and attachment. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:123–129. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085518. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Easterbrooks MA, Biringen Z. The Emotional Availability Scales: Methodological refinements of the construct and clinical implications related to gender and at-risk interactions [Special Issue] Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005a;26:291–294. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20053. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Easterbrooks MA, Biringen Z, editors. Emotional availability: Extending the assessment of emotional availability to include gender, culture, and at-risk populations [Special Issue] Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005b;26(4):291–405. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20053. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/imhj.v26:4/issuetoc. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Easterbrooks MA, Bureau J-F, Lyons-Ruth K. Developmental coherence in predictors and correlates of emotional availability in mother-child interaction: A longitudinal study from infancy to late adolescence. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000666. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Easterbrooks MA, Chaudhuri J, Gestsdottir S. Patterns of emotional availability among young mothers and their infants: A dyadic, contextual analysis. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005;26:309–326. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20057. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. Emde R. Emotional availability: A reciprocal reward system for infants and parents with implications for prevention of psychosocial disorders. In: Taylor PM, editor. Parent-infant relationships. Orlando, FL: Grune & Stratton; 1980. pp. 87–115. [Google Scholar]
  58. Emde RN. Next steps in emotional availability research. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:242–248. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085590. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  59. Emde RN, Easterbrooks MA. Assessing emotional availability in early development. In: Frankenburg WK, Emde RN, Sullivan JW, editors. Early identification of children at risk: An international perspective. New York: Plenum Press; 1985. pp. 79–102. [Google Scholar]
  60. Esposito G, Venuti P, de Falco S, Bornstein MH. Maternal emotional availability and infant smiling and crying at 5 months of age. In: Krause PH, Dailey TM, editors. Handbook of parenting: Styles, stresses, and strategies. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc; 2009. pp. 30–46. [Google Scholar]
  61. Field T. Infant arousal, attention, and affect during early interactions. In: Lipsitt L, Rovee-Collier CK, editors. Advances in infancy research. Vol. 1. Norwood, NJ: Ablex; 1981. pp. 58–100. [Google Scholar]
  62. Field T, Vega-Lahr N, Scafidi F, Goldstein S. Effects of maternal unavailability on mother-infant interactions. Infant Behavior and Development. 1986;9:473–478. doi: 10.1016/0163-6383(86)90019-6. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  63. Frankel KA, Lindahl K, Harmon RJ. Preschoolers’ response to maternal sadness: Relationships with maternal depression and emotional availability. Infant Mental Health Journal. 1992;13:132–146. doi: 10.1002/1097-0355(199223)13:2<132::AID-IMHJ2280130204>3.0.CO;2-C. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  64. Fraser JG, Harris-Britt A, Thakkallapalli EL, Kurtz-Costes B, Martin S. Emotional availability and psychosocial correlates among mothers in substance-abuse treatment and their young infants. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2010;31:1–15. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20239. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  65. Garvin MC, Tarullo AR, Van Ryzin M, Gunnar MR. Post-adoption parenting and socioemotional development in post-institutionalized children. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000642. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  66. Hartmann DP, Pelzel KE, Abbott CB. Design, measurement, and analysis in developmental research. In: Bornstein MH, Lamb ME, editors. Developmental science: An advanced textbook. 6. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis; 2011. pp. 109–195. [Google Scholar]
  67. Howes C, Obregon NB. Emotional availability in Mexican-heritage low-income mothers and children: Infancy through preschool. Parenting: Science and Practice. 2009;9:260–276. doi: 10.1080/15295190902844589. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  68. Killeen LA, Teti DM. Prefrontal cortical asymmetry in mothers to infant emotional states predicts maternal emotional availability with their 6-month-old infants. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000629. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  69. Koester LS, Brooks LR, Traci MA. Mutual responsiveness in deaf and hearing mother-infant dyads. Poster presented at the meetings of the International Conference of Infant studies; Providence, RI. 1996. Apr, [Google Scholar]
  70. Kogan N, Carter AS. Mother-infant reengagement following the stillface: The role of maternal emotional availability in infant affect regulation. Infant Behavior and Development. 1996;19:359–370. doi: 10.1016/S0163-6383(96)90034-X. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  71. Koren-Karie N, Oppenheim D, Dolev S, Yirmiya N. Mothers of securely attached children with autism spectrum disorder are more sensitive than mothers of insecurely attached children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2009;50:643–650. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02043.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  72. Lovas GS. Gender and patterns of emotional availability in mother-toddler and father-toddler dyads. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005;26:327–353. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20056. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  73. Luster T, Dubow E. Home environment and maternal intelligence as predictors of verbal intelligence: A comparison of preschool and school – age children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 1990;38(2):151–175. Retrieved from http://www.merrillpalmerquarterly.com/ [Google Scholar]
  74. Maccoby EE, Martin JA. Socialization in the context of the family: Parent–child interaction. In: Hetherington EM, Mussen PH, editors. Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development. 4. New York: Wiley; 1983. pp. 1–101. [Google Scholar]
  75. Magnusson D, Allen VL. Implications and applications of an interactional perspective for human development. In: Magnusson D, Allen VL, editors. Human development: An interactional perspective. New York: Academic Press; 1983. pp. 469–387. [Google Scholar]
  76. Martin SE, Clements ML, Crnic KA. Maternal emotions during mother-toddler interaction: Parenting in an affective context. Parenting: Science and Practice. 2002;2:105–126. doi: 10.1207/S15327922PAR0202_02. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  77. McCall RB. Nature-nurture and the two realms of development: A proposed integration with respect to mental development. Child Development. 1981;52(1):1–12. Retrieved from http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0009-3920. [Google Scholar]
  78. Moore MR, Brooks-Gunn J. Adolescent parenthood. In: Bornstein MH, editor. Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3. Status and social conditions of parenting. 2. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; 2002. pp. 173–214. [Google Scholar]
  79. Moore KA, Morrison DR, Greene AD. Effects on the children born to adolescent mothers. In: Maynard RA, editor. Kids having kids: Economic costs and social consequences of teen pregnancy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press; 1997. pp. 145–180. [Google Scholar]
  80. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, National Institute of Health. NIH Publication No 05-4318. Research Triangle Park, NC: United States Department of Health and Human Services, NICHD; 2006. The NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development: Findings for Children up to Age 4 1/2 Years. Retrieved from http://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/seccyd.cfm. [Google Scholar]
  81. Oppenheim D, Koren-Karie N, Dolev S, Yirmiya N. Maternal insightfulness and resolution of the diagnosis are associated with secure attachment in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders. Child Development. 2009;80:519–527. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01276.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  82. Osofsky HJ, Osofsky JD. The adolescent mother: Factors related to their children’s development. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1970;40:825–834. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1970.tb01094.x. Retrieved from: http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0002-9432. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  83. Oyen A-S, Landy S, Hilburn-Cobb C. Maternal attachment and sensitivity in an at-risk sample. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:203–217. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085563. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  84. Pettit GS, Bates JE. Family interaction patterns and children’s behavior problems from infancy to 4 years. Developmental Psychology. 1989;25:413–420. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/dev/index.aspx. [Google Scholar]
  85. Pianta RC, Smith N, Reeve RE. Observing mother and child behavior in a problem-solving situation at school entry: Relations with classroom adjustment. School Psychology Quarterly. 1991;6:1–15. doi: 10.1037/h0088238. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  86. Pipp-Siegel S, Biringen Z. Assessing the quality of relationships between parents and children: The emotional availability scales. Volta Review. 1998;100(5):237–249. Retrieved from http://agbell.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=501. [Google Scholar]
  87. Pipp-Siegel S, Blair NL, Deas AM, Pressman LJ, Yoshinaga-Itano C. Touch and emotional availability in hearing and deaf or hard of hearing toddlers and their hearing mothers. The Volta Review. 1998;100(5):279–298. Retrieved from http://agbell.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=501. [Google Scholar]
  88. Pomerleau A, Scuccimarri C, Malcuit G. Mother–infant behavioral interactions in teenage and adult mothers during the first six months postpartum: Relations with infant development. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2003;24:495–509. doi: 10.1002/imhj.10073. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  89. Pressman L, Pipp-Siegel S, Yoshinaga-Itano C, Deas AM. Maternal sensitivity predicts language gain in preschool children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. 1999;4:294–304. doi: 10.1093/deafed/4.4.294. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  90. Pressman LJ, Pipp-Siegel S, Yoshinaga-Itano C, Kubicek L, Emde RN. A comparison of the links between emotional availability and language gain in young children with and without hearing loss. The Volta Review. 1998;100(5):251–277. Retrieved from http://agbell.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=501. [Google Scholar]
  91. Robinson JL, Biringen Z. Gender and emerging autonomy in development. Psychoanalytic Inquiry. 1995;15:60–74. doi: 10.1080/07351699509534017. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  92. Robinson JL, Little C. Emotional availability in mother-twin dyads: Effects on the organization of relationships. Psychiatry. 1994;57(1):22–31. doi: 10.1080/00332747.1994.11024665. Retrieved from http://www.guilford.com/cgi-bin/cartscript.cgi?page=pr/jnps.htm&dir=periodicals/per_psych&cart_id=379717.19815. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  93. Robinson JL, Little C, Biringen Z. Emotional communication in mother–toddler relationships: Evidence for early gender differentiation. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 1993;39(4):496–517. Retrieved from: http://www.merrillpalmerquarterly.com/ [Google Scholar]
  94. Rowe ML, Pan BA, Ayoub C. Predictors of variation in maternal talk to children: A longitudinal study of low-income families. Parenting: Science and Practice. 2005;5:285–310. doi: 10.1207/s15327922par0503_3. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  95. Sagi A, Koren-Karie N, Gini M, Ziv Y, Joels T. Shedding further light on the effects of various types and quality of early child care on infant-mother attachment relationship: The Haifa Study of Early Child Care. Child Development. 2002;73(4):1166–1186. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00465. Retrieved from: http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0009-3920. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  96. Sagi A, Tirosh E, Ziv Y, Guttman S, Lavie P. Attachment and sleep patterns in the first year of life. Paper presented at the Meeting of the International Conference on Infant Studies; Atlanta, GA. 1998. Apr, [Google Scholar]
  97. Sameroff AJ, Emde RN, editors. Relationship disturbances in early childhood: A developmental approach. New York: Basic Books; 1989. [Google Scholar]
  98. Sander L. Where are we going in the field of infant mental health? Infant Mental Health Journal. 2000;21:1–18. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0355(200001/04)21:1/2<5::AID-IMHJ2>3.0.CO;2-S. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  99. Sorce J, Emde RN. Mother’s presence is not enough: Effect of emotional availability on infant exploration. Developmental Psychology. 1981;17:737–745. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.17.6.737. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  100. Sorce JF, Emde RN, Campos JJ, Klinnert MD. Maternal emotional signaling: Its effect on the visual cliff behavior of one-year-olds. Developmental Psychology. 1985;21:195–200. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.21.1.195. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  101. Sroufe LA. Emotional development: The organization of emotional life in the early years. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1996. [Google Scholar]
  102. Stack DA, Serbin LA, Girouard N, Enns LN, Bentley VMN, Schwartzman AE, Ledingham JE. The quality of the mother-child relationship in high-risk dyads: An intergenerational, longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S095457941100068X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  103. Stern DN. The interpersonal world of the infant: A view from psychoanalysis and development psychology. New York, NY: Basic Books; 1985. [Google Scholar]
  104. Swanson K, Beckwith L, Howard J. Intrusive caregiving and quality of attachment in prenatally drug-exposed toddlers and their primary caregivers. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:130–148. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085527. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  105. Trevarthen C, Aitken KJ. Infant intersubjectivity: Research, theory and clinical applications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2001;42:3–48. doi: 10.1017/S0021963001006552. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  106. van den Dries L, Juffer F, van IJzendoorn MH, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Alink LRA. Infants’ responsiveness, attachment, and indiscriminate friendliness after international adoption from institutions or foster care in China: Application of the emotional availability scales to adoptive families. Development and Psychopathology. 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000654. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  107. Van Egeren LA, Barratt MS, Roach MA. Mother–infant responsiveness: Timing, mutual regulation, and interactional context. Developmental Psychology. 2001;37(5):684–697. doi: 10.1037//0012-1649.37.5.684. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/dev/index.aspx. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  108. Venuti P, de Falco S, Giusti Z, Bornstein MH. Play and emotional availability in young children with Down syndrome. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2008;29:133–152. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20168. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  109. Venuti P, Giusti Z, Gini M, Bornstein MH. La disponibilità emotiva madre-gemelli in bambini italiani nel secondo anno di vita. [Emotional availability in mothers and twins in the second year of life] Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo. 2008;12:41–67. [Google Scholar]
  110. Vliegen N, Bijttebier P, Boulpaep N, Luyten PM, Cluckers G, Biringen Z. De EA-DSR Een zelfrapporteringsschaal voor het meten van emotionele beschikbaarheid bij ouders van jonge kinderen (0-1 jaar). [The EA-DSR, a parental self report scale measuring emotional availability in interaction with infants (0–1 year)]. Diagnostiekwijzer. [peer-reviewed Dutch journal] Jaargang. 2005;8:137–147. Dutch sample. [Google Scholar]
  111. Volling BL, McElwain NL, Notaro PC, Herrera C. Parents’ emotional availability and infant emotional competence: Predictors of parent–infant attachment and emerging self-regulation. Journal of Family Psychology. 2002;16(4):447–465. doi: 10.1037//0893-3200.16.4.447. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/fam/index.aspx. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  112. Weinberg MK, Tronick EZ. Infant affective reactions to the resumption of maternal interaction after the still-face. Child Development. 1996;67:905–914. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01772.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  113. Wiefel A, Wollenweber S, Oepen G, Lenz K, Lehmkuhl U, Biringen Z. Emotional availability in infant psychiatry. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2005;26:392–403. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20059. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  114. Wohlwill J. The study of behavioral development. New York: Academic Press; 1973. [Google Scholar]
  115. Zimmerman L, Fassler I. The dynamics of emotional availability in childcare: How infants involve and respond to their teen mothers and childcare teachers. Infants & Young Children. 2003;16(3):258–269. Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/iycjournal/pages/default.aspx. [Google Scholar]
  116. Zimmerman L, McDonald L. Emotional availability in infants’ relationships with multiple caregivers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1995;65:147–152. doi: 10.1037/h0079586. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  117. Ziv Y, Aviezer O, Gini M, Sagi A, Koren-Karie N. Emotional availability in the mother-infant dyad as related to the quality of infant-mother attachment relationship. Attachment & Human Development. 2000;2:149–169. doi: 10.1080/14616730050085536. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  118. Ziv Y, Gini M, Guttman S, Sagi A. Dyadic emotional availability and quality of infant-mother attachment: A three point longitudinal study. Paper presented at SRCD Biennial Meeting; Washington, DC. 1997. Apr, [Google Scholar]
  119. Ziv Y, Sagi A, Gini M, Karie-Koren N, Joels T. Emotional availability as related to quality of infant-mother attachment. Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Meeting of the International Conference on Infant Studies; Providence, RI. 1996. Apr, [Google Scholar]

RESOURCES