Infant Reminders Alter Sympathetic Reactivity and Reduce Couple Hostility at the Transition to Parenthood

Autor/inn/en	Mosek-Eilon, Vered; Hirschberger, Gilad; Kanat-Maymon, Yaniv; Feldman, Ruth
Titel	Infant Reminders Alter Sympathetic Reactivity and Reduce Couple Hostility at the Transition to Parenthood
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 49 (2013) 7, S.1385-1395 (11 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/a0030088
Schlagwörter	Parents; Infants; Psychological Patterns; Conflict; Marital Satisfaction; Responses; Empathy; Mothers; Fathers; Gender Differences; Adult Development; Developmental Stages; Hierarchical Linear Modeling; Correlation; Physiology; Cues + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Eltern; Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Konflikt; Empathie; Mother; Mutter; Geschlechterkonflikt; Erwachsenwerden; Korrelation; Physiologie; Stichwort
Abstract	The transition to parenthood marks an important developmental stage in adult life, associated with unique challenges to the partners' conflict dialogue in the formation of the family unit. Utilizing a biobehavioral experimental design, we examined the potential positive effects of the infant on the couple's conflict discussion. One hundred forty new parents of 6-month-old infants engaged in a face-to-face marital conflict discussion, while sympathetic reactivity was recorded online from mother and father and conflict interaction was microcoded for hostility and empathy. In the experimental group, a picture of one's own infant appeared on a screen halfway into the interaction, whereas controls viewed an affectively neutral stimulus. Infant reminders decreased mothers' sympathetic arousal, whereas fathers reacted with sympathetic vigilance by preserving sympathetic arousal. For both parents, infant reminders decreased couple hostility in parent-specific ways. Results accord with life-span developmental perspectives, support evolutionary models of mothering and fathering, and suggest that infants may enhance the quality of marital dialogue during this stressful transition. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01