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. 2023 Jan;28(1):34-55.
doi: 10.1111/infa.12517. Epub 2022 Dec 8.

Mother-infant emotional availability through the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations

Nila Shakiba  1 , Gal Doron  2 , Avigail Gordon-Hacker  2 , Alisa Egotubov  2 , Nicholas J Wagner  1 , Noa Gueron-Sela  2
Affiliations

Mother-infant emotional availability through the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations

Nila Shakiba et al. Infancy. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic may impact the development of infants' social communication patterns with their caregivers. The current study examined continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations in maternal and infant dyadic Emotional Availability (EA) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 110 Israeli mother-infant dyads (51% girls) that were assessed prior to (Mage = 3.5 months) and during (Mage = 12.4 months) the pandemic. At both time points, mother-infant interactions were observed during play (nonstressful context) and tasks designed to elicit infant frustration (stressful context). Maternal and child EA were coded offline. Maternal EA demonstrated no significant mean-level changes from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas infant responsiveness and involvement increased over time. Stability and bidirectional associations in EA differed by context and were evident only in the stressful context. Mothers' perceived levels of social support further moderated these associations. Specifically, infants' pre-pandemic responsiveness and involvement predicted maternal EA during the pandemic only when mothers reported low levels of social support. Our findings suggest that maternal and child EA were not adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, patterns of EA demonstrated moderate-to-no stability over time, suggesting considerable individual differences in trajectories of EA.

Keywords: COVID-19; emotional availability; parent-child interactions; parenting; social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest with regard to the funding source for this study.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Multigroup Comparisons Based on Maternal Perceived Social Support in the Play ARCL Model. Note: Standardized Coefficients for the Multigroup Comparisons in the Play ARCL Model. Italic values represent coefficients in the low social support group, and bold values represent coefficients in the high social support group. Dashed lines represent nonsignificant paths for both groups, gray lines are significant paths but with no significant group differences, and black lines are both significant paths and significant group differences. Covariates were not included in the figure for clarity. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Multigroup Comparisons Based on Maternal Perceived Social Support in the Frustration ARCL Model. Note: Standardized coefficients for the multigroup comparisons in the frustration ARCL model. Italic values represent coefficients in the low social support group, and bold values represent coefficients in the high social support group. Dashed lines represent nonsignificant paths for both groups, gray lines are significant paths but with no significant group differences, and black lines are both significant paths and significant group differences. Covariates were not included in the figure for clarity. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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