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Social and Cultural Contexts of Emotional Development and Temperament  265

distressed are thought to be securely attached to their caregivers. Infants whose mothers report symptoms of depres- sion, however, have difficulties regulat- ing their emotions during the still-face experiment (Weinberg et al., 2006). Simi- larly, infants whose mothers report anxi- ety show heightened physiological reac- tions during the re-engagement phase of the still-face experiment, indicating their inability to come down from a high level of distress (Ostlund et al., 2017). Why might this be? As we will see, parents’ sensitive attunement to infant needs may be crucial for positive infant emotional development. Parental Sensitivity and Synchrony

Courtesy of Edward Tronick

FIGURE 7.15  The still-face experiment.  In the still-face experiment, mothers are asked to interact naturally with their infants for 3 minutes, followed by a 3-minute segment in which they keep their faces unresponsive and still. Typically, infants become upset by their mother’s still face, and may engage in strategies such as looking away to soothe their distress.

Caregiver sensitivity in the domain of emotions, including mirroring behav- iors and interaction synchrony, is vital to infant emotional development. Caregivers display mirroring behaviors when they reflect back the emo- tions of their infants, such as by smiling in response to a baby’s smile or exaggerating a frown when infants are upset. Imitations help infants form connections between their feelings and those of their caregivers (Holodynski & Friedlmeier, 2006). Infants with mothers who displayed high mirroring during interactions actively attempted to re-engage their mothers during the still-face experiment by vocalizing and bidding for attention (Bigelow et al., 2018). In contrast, infants of mothers who were low in mirroring did not increase their vocalizations or bids. Interaction synchrony captures the prompt, reciprocal ways that care- givers respond to infant behaviors and emotions, as seen when caregivers alternate their looks, smiles, and vocalizations with those of their infants, especially while expressing emotional warmth. Interaction synchrony and maternal warmth fosters infants’ emotion regulation months and even years later (Brady-Smith et al., 2013; Feldman et al., 2011). In contrast, parental anger, harshness, and other negative and control- ling behaviors impede toddlers’ development of emotion regulation, amplify stress in toddlers and young children, and at extremes, can cascade to psycho- pathology and emotional problems in children (Calkins et al., 1998; Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2012; Gunnar & Vazquez, 2006; Strang, Hanson, & Pollak, 2012). As a key caregiver of infants, fathers influence infant and toddler emotional development through their sensitivity as well. Responsiveness in fathers sup- ports 2-year-olds’ emotion regulation skills, with high warmth and respon- siveness in fathers relating to low emotional problem behaviors in infants (Cabrera, Shannon, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2007). Parental Cell Phone Use and Emotional Development The importance of parental sensitivity in infant emotion development sparks questions about cell phone and technology use. Do distractions from tech- nology divert parents’ attention away from their infants and potentially interfere with infants’ emotional development ( FIGURE 7.16 )? The answer is an unequivocal yes. Mothers who reported frequent mobile device use had infants who were less positive in their affect during the initial phase of the still-face procedure and who showed less recovery at reunion than were infants of low users (Myruski et al., 2018). Parents may unknowingly interaction synchrony  The prompt, reciprocal ways that caregivers re­ spond to infant behaviors and emo- tions, which support infant emotional regulation PROPERTY OF OXFORD Tamis-LeMonda Child Develop ent: Context, Culture, and Cascades 1E Sinauer Associates/OUP Morales Studio TAMIS1e_07.15 06-30-21 mirroring behaviors  The reflect- ing back of emotions by caregivers to their infants such as smiling in response to an infant’s smile

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