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This study examined maternal predictors of children's facial expressions of emotion in mother-child interactions. Ninety-four mothers and their 14- to 27-month old toddlers were observed during a 20-minute interaction. Results demonstrated that two different components of maternal sensitivity, supportive behavior and child-oriented motivation, predicted more facial expressions of joy and sadness and less flat affect in children. Maternal autonomy granting, a third component of maternal sensitivity, predicted more facial expressions of anger in children. This study also examined relations between macrosocial variables (i.e., maternal well-being and demographic factors) and children's facial expressions of emotion and how maternal sensitivity mediated such relations. High maternal education was directly related to fewer facial expressions of sadness and anger, high SES was related to more facial expressions of joy, and both greater marital satisfaction and social support were related to more facial expressions of anger. It was also shown that supportive behavior mediated associations between: maternal depressive symptoms and both low joy and high flat affect, marital satisfaction and low flat affect, maternal education and high joy, and family income and high joy. Child-oriented motivation mediated associations between maternal depressive symptoms and both high flat affect and low sadness. Findings suggest that it is important to consider multiple measures of maternal sensitivity and the broader macrosocial context in which the parent-child relationship is embedded when examining children's facial expressions of emotion in mother-child interactions.

Thesis (M.S.)--Washington State University, May 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-47).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-214).

Includes bibliography. / In this thesis the foundations of affective development are discussed. The context of development is considered to be the relationship between infant and caregiver. The theoretical bases of developmental psychology and the practice of clinical psychology have been drawn on and applied to a model of promotive and preventive work. Affective development may be enhanced by psychologists, and it is therefore important for them to consider promotion of mental health as well as more traditional ways of therapeutic intervention. A survey was done in four infant clinics in Cape Town, and had the aim of establishing whether health care workers in this context were doing anything to promote affective development. There seemed to be minimal intervention in this regard. The second aim of the research section of this thesis addressed the question of whether there might be a place within the clinic structures for educational psychologists. To this end groups of caregivers were set up, and a pilot promotive programme was administered and evaluated over five sessions. In general the response of the mothers was positive. In the final chapter some of the particular strains that are placed on South African families are considered. Finally recommendations and ideas for establishing programmes that seek to promote affective development in contexts other than clinics are discussed.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (February 17, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-61)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 12, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-58)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 12, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-48)

This experiment was designed to elucidate the function of adult facial and vocal behavior for infant perception and expression of affect. Nine infants were studied longitudinally at 2 months and at 3 1/2 months using a dynamic visual display that consisted of a videotape of a woman moving her face while expressing happiness or sadness. A second group of 10 infants were studied similarly ina version of this procedure that used a static videotaped display of the woman's face in which she showed fixed expressions of either emotion. Both types of visual displays were accompanied by a soundtrack playing either affectively matched or unmatched infant-directed (ID) speech. Infant visual fixations of the display area were determined during the experimental session by a trained observer who was kept unaware of the stimuli being presented. The sum of these fixations for infants in the Static condition was greater than that of infants in the Dynamic condition. A similar analysis of the average length of infants’ visual fixations revealed no significant results. Analyses of infant affect and "interactiveness" were also conducted by having trained raters score videotapes of each session using one of 4 rating scales. According to 2 of these measures, infant facial affect was more positive during displays that contained happy elements than during matched sad displays, and 3 1/2-month olds were more frequently rated as More Happy during matched happy displays. Thus, infants showed different affective responses to the 4 face-voice combinations, even though they did not attend differently to the displays. In addition, infant facial affect was more positive at 3 1/2 months because smiling at displays was more reliable at this age. The analysis of infant "interactiveness" revealed that 3 1/2-month olds in the Static condition were more "interactive" than those in the Dynamic condition. A supplementary analysis of a questionnaire that was designed to measure parents' perceptions of their infants showed that almost 1/5th of the attrition at 2 months could be accounted for by infants' tendencies to respond negatively to novel experiences. The results of this study are discussed in terms of their implications for future research in infant perception. / Ph. D.