The effect of mothers responsiveness to children's social smiles on children's engagement behavior
Abstract
Although it is known that mother’s general responsiveness to children’s emotion
predicts the long-term outcomes in children, the processes underlying the effect of
mothers’ responsiveness are poorly understood. This study examined the effect of
mother’s moment-to-moment responsiveness and unresponsiveness to children’s smiles
on children’s interest in engaging their mothers during ongoing interaction. In 20-minute
videotaped mother-child interaction, children’s smiles, mothers’ responsiveness, and
children’s engagement were coded. Children’s smiles were identified by using Izard’s
AFFEX facial coding system. Mothers’ responses to these smiles were coded as
responsive or unresponsive. Children’s reactions in turn were coded as engaging or not
engaging. It was found that children engaged mothers more when mothers were
responsive than unresponsive to children’s smiles. Furthermore, the effect of mothers’
responsiveness to children’s smile was found in the first 5-second interval but not in the
2nd, 3rd, or 4th 5-second intervals. Finally, the latency to children’s first engagement was
shorter when mothers were responsive than unresponsive. These findings may elucidate
one potential explanatory process underlying the effects of mothers’ responsiveness to
children’s emotion on children’s development.
Department
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