Development of temperamental regulation of infants at 6 and 24 months: Associations with maternal soothing and distress.

Background And Aims: In the neurobiological theory of attention, the orienting network mainly supports the temperamental regulatory function in infancy, with soothing methods such as visual attention distraction influencing its development. The attention distraction method chosen for soothing is thought to be influenced by maternal sensitivity, which has been found to decrease with poor maternal mental health. We hypothesize that the degree of maternal distress may affect the choice of attention distraction soothing method. Further, individual differences in being soothed by attention distraction will be associated with the temperamental regulation function in infancy/toddlerhood.

Method: Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted on longitudinal data at 6 and 24 months on a sample ( = 1892) drawn from the sub-cohort of the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Temperament was examined through the short Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (Japanese version) and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (Japanese version). Distress in caregivers was measured through the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (Japanese version) at prenatal and 1-year-postnatal stages. Individual differences in using visual distraction soothing methods were also measured using tailor-made items.

Results: Postnatal maternal distress at 12 months was negatively related to the tendency to use visual attention distraction as a soothing method (β = -0.06,  = 0.006) at 24 months. When we applied the subscale of the temperamental regulatory factor in SEM, the more the mothers chose the distraction method for soothing, i.e., the more the toddlers experienced it, the higher their attention shifting scores (β = 0.07,  = 0.002).

Conclusion: The findings support the view that caregivers' choice of method for distracting offspring's attention from distress may be associated with the development of self-regulation during infancy and toddlerhood.