Applicability of a Novel Attunement Instrument and Its Relationship to Parental Sensitivity in Infants With and Without Visual Impairments.

Journal: Frontiers in psychology

Volume: 13

Issue: 

Year of Publication: 

Affiliated Institutions:  Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Nazareth and Louis-Braille Institute, Integrated Health and Social Services Centres (CISSS), Longueuil, QC, Canada. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. School of Optometry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada. MRC Unit on Child and Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Abstract summary 

This study investigated the applicability of a novel instrument to assess parent-child attunement in free play interactions, in dyads with an infant with and without visual impairments (VI). We here report the findings on the reliability and applicability of the newly developed in two separate samples: one with infants with VI ( = 20) and one with typically sighted infants ( = 24). In addition, we assessed the contribution of parental sensitivity to attunement in dyadic interactions. The is an observational comprehensive instrument of behaviors that captures different body parts and their motility (i.e., finger movements, arm waving, and foot kicking), and different senses (i.e., audio, tactile, and visual). The appropriate responding of a parent to the child's signal (i.e., matching and containing) reflects the ability to attune in the dyad as well as parent's ability to stimulate the child to become engaged in the contact or activity. Consistency assessments revealed good reliability for maternal and infant behaviors, acceptable internal consistency and good test-retest reliability. Furthermore, both samples scored significantly above chance level on attunement, suggesting that the instrument captures parent-infant behavioral coordination, and VI was not related to parent-infant attunement. Lastly, a relation between parental sensitivity and attunement was found only in the TS sample. Altogether, these findings provide promising initial evidence of the applicability of the instrument for assessing dyadic attunement across different populations and ages. Having assessed the applicability of this observational instrument, future work should corroborate these findings in larger samples.

Authors & Co-authors:  Vacaru Victorita Stefania VS Alfaro Andrea Urqueta AU Hoffman Nadia N Wittich Walter W Stern Micky M Zar Heather J HJ Stein Dan J DJ Sterkenburg Paula Sophia PS

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Beebe B., Jaffe J., Markese S., Buck K., Chen H., Cohen P., et al. . (2010). The origins of 12-month attachment: a microanalysis of 4-month mother–infant interaction. Attach Hum. Dev. 12, 3–141. doi: 10.1080/14616730903338985, PMID:
Authors :  8
Identifiers
Doi : 872114
SSN : 1664-1078
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
attunement;instrument validation;parental sensitivity;parent–infant interaction;visual impairment
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
Publication Country
Switzerland