Infants' meaning-making and the development of mental health problems

Abstract

We argue that infant meaning-making processes are a central mechanism governing both typical and pathological outcomes. Infants, as open dynamic systems, must constantly garner information to increase their complexity and coherence. They fulfill this demand by making nonverbal "meaning"-affects, movements, representations-about themselves in relation to the world and themselves into a "biopsychosocial state of consciousness," which shapes their ongoing engagement with the world. We focus on the operation of the infant-adult communication system, a dyadic, mutually regulated system that scaffolds infants' engagement with the world of people, things, and themselves, and consequently their meaning-making. We argue that infant mental health problems emerge when the meanings infants make in the moment, which increase their complexity and coherence and may be adaptive in the short run, selectively limit their subsequent engagement with the world and, in turn, the growth of their state of consciousness in the long run. When chronic and iterative, these altered meanings can interfere with infants' successful development and heighten their vulnerability to pathological outcomes. Cultural variations in meaning-making and implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Figure 1

Mother and Infant Interaction Note. Left to right: The infant pulls the mother’s hair. When the mother disengages, the infant holds on, and the mother responds with an angry facial expression and vocalization. The infant reacts defensively. After some seconds, they both repair the interaction. Copyright 2007 by Ed Tronick. Reprinted with permission.

Figure 2

The Interactive Process of Matching, Mismatching, and Reparation of Meanings and Intentions Note. Copyright 2007 by Ed Tronick. Reprinted with permission.