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Exploring the impact of parents’ face-mask wearing on dyadic interactions in infants at higher likelihood for autism compared with general population
•Twelve-month infants’ live interactions with masked/unmasked parent were videotaped via teleconferencing.•Infants displayed a significant increase in looking time towards the masked parent.•Infants did not show a statistically significant increase in negative emotionality when interacting with a ma...
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| Published in: | Journal of experimental child psychology 2024-11, Vol.247, p.106037, Article 106037 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Citations: | Items that this one cites |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | •Twelve-month infants’ live interactions with masked/unmasked parent were videotaped via teleconferencing.•Infants displayed a significant increase in looking time towards the masked parent.•Infants did not show a statistically significant increase in negative emotionality when interacting with a masked parent.•Infants at higher-likelihood for autism show similar response to mask-wearing parents than general population counterparts.•Parents in both groups did not significantly change their interactive behaviours when masked.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, both the public and researchers have raised questions regarding the potential impact of protective face-mask wearing on infants’ development. Nevertheless, limited research has tested infants’ response to protective face-mask wearing adults in real-life interactions and in neurodiverse populations. In addition, scarce attention was given to changes in interactive behavior of adults wearing a protective face-mask. The aims of the current study were (1) to examine differences in 12-month-old infants’ behavioral response to an interactive parent wearing a protective face-mask during face-to-face interaction, (2) to investigate potential differences in infants at higher likelihood for autism (HL-ASD) as compared with general population (GP) counterparts, and (3) to explore significant differences in parents’ behaviors while wearing or not wearing a protective face-mask. A total of 50 mother–infant dyads, consisting of 20 HL-ASD infants (siblings of individuals with autism) and 30 GP infants, participated in a 6-min face-to-face interaction. The interaction was videotaped through teleconferencing and comprised three 2-min episodes: (a) no mask, (b) mask, and (c) post-mask. Infants’ emotionality and gaze direction, as well as mothers’ vocal production and touching behaviors, were coded micro-analytically. Globally, GP infants exhibited more positive emotionality compared with their HL-ASD counterparts. Infants’ negative emotionality and gaze avoidance did not differ statistically across episodes. Both groups of infants displayed a significant increase in looking time toward the caregiver during the mask episode. No statistically significant differences emerged in mothers’ behaviors. These findings suggest that the use of protective face-masks might not negatively affect core dimensions of caregiver–infant interactions in GP and HL-ASD 12-month-old infants. |
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| ISSN: | 0022-0965 1096-0457 1096-0457 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106037 |