The Impact of Infant Sleep Location and Mother Bed-Sharing Intent at 3 Months on Infant Still-Face Paradigm Responses at 6 Months

Undergraduates: Rachel Lerner, Marie Camerota Cathi Propper

Faculty Advisor: Cathi Propper
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Westernized societies generally believe bed-sharing negatively impacts a child¿¿¿s autonomy and independence. However, one study found that parent-child bed-sharing may protect against attachment insecurity. Thus, the current study assesses the relationship between bed-sharing and infant behavior during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP), an early assessment of parent-child relationship quality. The sample consists of 50 African-American mother-infant pairs classified via observational data as bed-sharing (BS; n = 31) or solitary sleeping (SS; n = 19). Dyads within the bed-sharing group were also classified as proactively bed-sharing (PBS; n = 20) or reactively bed-sharing (RBS; n = 11). At 6 months of age, the SFP was conducted, filmed, and coded. Based off previous literature linking SFP responses with attachment security, we hypothesized that less negativity, more positivity, more gazes towards mother, and more self-regulatory behaviors would be observed in the BS infants, especially the PBS infants. Results indicated that SS infants displayed more negative affective expressions and negative vocalizations during the SFP, while BS infants displayed more self-regulatory behaviors. Additionally, PBS infants displayed more gazes towards mother during the SFP than RBS infants. These findings suggest that infant behaviors during the SFP vary based on early nighttime experiences, with bed-sharing, particularly proactive bed-sharing, potentially promoting the parent-child relationship.