Psychological Development and Education ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 162-171.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2026.02.02

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Relationship between Maternal Responses and Infant Emotion Regulation Strategies

CHENG Mengting1,2, XU Qinmei1,2, GE Yuqing1, MA Sa2, YAN Chenyu1   

  1. 1. Interdisciplinary Center for Learning and Cognitive Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058;
    2. Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058
  • Published:2026-03-14

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Abstract: Emotion regulation is a crucial aspect of infants’ social development. During parent-child interactions, infants can learn emotion regulation through maternal responses to their crying. Which types of maternal responses more effectively contribute to the development of infants’ emotion regulation? This study explored the impact of maternal responses to infant crying on emotion regulation from the perspective of emotion regulation strategies. The study employed interviews to investigate maternal responses to infant crying and utilized behavioral coding to assess the emotion regulation strategies used by infants in a waiting task. The results indicated that infants consistently responded to by their mothers exhibit better utilization of emotion regulation strategies compared to infants who are inconsistently responded to or experience delayed responses. These findings suggest that consistent responsiveness is more beneficial to the development of infant emotion regulation. This study provided a new research perspective and evidence for the topic of responsiveness to infant emotions, offering scientific support for parenting practices.

Key words: infant studies, response to crying, emotion regulation strategies, social emotional learning

CLC Number: 

  • B844
Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(2), 217-237.
Bailes, L. G., Ennis, G., Lempres, S. M., Cole, D. A., & Humphreys, K. L.(2023). Parents’ emotion socialization behaviors in response to preschool-aged children’s justified and unjustified negative emotions. PLoS ONE, 18(4), e0283689. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283689
Bandura, A.(1977). Social learning theory (p. viii, 247). Prentice-Hall.
Bell, S. M., & Ainsworth, M. D. S.(1972). Infant Crying and Maternal Responsiveness. Child Development, 43(4), 1171-1190.
Brown, M. A., Gao, M.(Miranda), Isenhour, J., Shakiba, N., Crowell, S. E., Raby, K. L., & Conradt, E. (2024). Understanding emotion dysregulation from infancy to toddlerhood with a multilevel perspective: The buffering effect of maternal sensitivity. Development and Psychopathology, 37(2), 944-957.
Brumariu, L. E.(2015). Parent-Child Attachment and Emotion Regulation. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2015(148), 31-45.
Buss, K. A., & Goldsmith, H. H.(1998). Fear and Anger Regulation in Infancy: Effects on the Temporal Dynamics of Affective Expression. Child Development, 69(2), 359-374.
Cole, P. M., Bendezú, J. J., Ram, N., & Chow, S.-M.(2017). Dynamical systems modeling of early childhood self-regulation. Emotion, 17(4), 684-699.
Crockenberg, S. C., & Leerkes, E. M.(2004). Infant and Maternal Behaviors Regulate Infant Reactivity to Novelty at 6 Months. Developmental Psychology, 40(6), 1123-1132.
Edelman, B., & Del Vecchio, T.(2024). When crying turns to hitting: Examining maternal responses to negative affect. Infant Behavior and Development, 74, 101918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101918
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L.(1998). Parental Socialization of Emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9(4), 241-273.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Murphy, B. C., Guthrie, I. K., Jones, S., … Maszk, P.(1997). Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Prediction of Children’s Social Functioning from Regulation and Emotionality. Child Development, 68(4), 642-664.
Fearon, R. P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Lapsley, A.-M., & Roisman, G. I.(2010). The Significance of Insecure Attachment and Disorganization in the Development of Children’s Externalizing Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Study. Child Development, 81(2), 435-456.
Firk, C., & Großheinrich, N.(2024). Infant carrying: Associations with parental reflective functioning, parental bonding and parental responses to infant crying. Infant Mental Health Journal, 45(3), 263-275.
Giesbrecht, G. F., Letourneau, N., Campbell, T., Hart, M., Thomas, J. C., Tomfohr-Madsen, L., & the APrON Study Team.(2020). Parental Use of “Cry Out” in a Community Sample During the First Year of Infant Life. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 41(5), 379-387.
Gross, J. T., Stern, J. A., Brett, B. E., Fitter, M. H., & Cassidy, J.(2023). Mothers’ Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(3), 876-891.
Hill-Soderlund, A. L., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C., Calkins, S. D., Granger, D. A., Moore, G. A., … Cox, M. J.(2008). Parasympathetic and sympathetic responses to the strange situation in infants and mothers from avoidant and securely attached dyads. Developmental Psychobiology, 50(4), 361-376.
Hubbard, F. O. A., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H.(1991). Maternal unresponsiveness and infant crying across the first 9 months: A naturalistic longitudinal study. Infant Behavior & Development, 14(3), 299-312.
James-Roberts, I. S., & Halil, T.(1991). Infant Crying Patterns in the First Year: Normal Community and Clinical Findings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32(6), 951-968.
Ju, S., Iwinski, S., & Bost, K. K.(2024). Temperament and emotional overeating: The mediating role of caregiver response to children’s negative emotions. Frontiers in Psychology, 1369252. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1369252
Kim, Y., Williams, A. I., Liu, C., & Zhou, Q.(2023). Dynamic Associations Between Emotion Expressions and Strategy Use in Chinese American and Mexican American Preschoolers. Emotion, 23(2), 460-472.
Kopp, C. B.(1982). Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18(2), 199-214.
Kopp, C.B.(1989). Regulation of distress and negative emotions: A developmental view. Developmental Psychology, 25(3), 343-354.
Miller-slough, R., Zeman, J. L., Poon, J. A., & Sanders, W. M.(2016). Children’s Maternal Support-Seeking: Relations to Maternal Emotion Socialization Responses and Children’s Emotion Management. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(10), 3009-3021.
Morris, A. S., Silk, J. S., Steinberg, L., Myers, S. S., & Robinson, L. R.(2007). The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation. Social Development, 16(2), 361-388.
Perry, K. J., Level, R. A., Schuetze, P., & Eiden, R. D.(2024). Prenatal tobacco, tobacco-cannabis coexposure, and child emotion regulation: The role of child autonomic functioning and sensitive parenting. Developmental Psychology, 60(9), 1544-1561.
Ratcliff, K. A., Vazquez, L. C., Lunkenheimer, E. S., & Cole, P. M.(2021). Longitudinal Changes in Young Children’s Strategy Use for Emotion Regulation. Developmental Psychology, 57(9), 1471-1486.
Rattaz, V., Puglisi, N., Tissot, H., & Favez, N.(2022). Associations between parent-infant interactions, cortisol and vagal regulation in infants, and socioemotional outcomes: A systematic review. Infant Behavior & Development, 101687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101687
Ravindran, N., Genaro, B. G., & Cole, P. M.(2021). Parental Structuring in Response to Toddler Negative Emotion Predicts Children’s Later Use of Distraction as a Self‐Regulation Strategy for Waiting. Child Development, 92(5), 1969-1983.
Riva Crugnola, C., Tambelli, R., Spinelli, M., Gazzotti, S., Caprin, C., & Albizzati, A.(2011). Attachment patterns and emotion regulation strategies in the second year. Infant Behavior & Development, 34(1), 136-151.
Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., & Bowker, J. C.(2009). Social Withdrawal in Childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 141-171.
Soltis, J.(2004). The signal functions of early infant crying. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27(4), 443-458.
Spangler, G., & Grossmann, K. E.(1993). Biobehavioral Organization in Securely and Insecurely Attached Infants. Child Development, 64(5), 1439-1450.
Spitz, R. A.(1946). Anaclitic depression:An inquiry into the genesis of psychiatric conditions in early childhood. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 2(Journal Article), 313-342.
Thorpe, D., Silver, J., Perrone, L., DeSantis, N., Dash, A., Rodriguez, M., … Bernard, K.(2022). Ecological Predictors of Parental Beliefs about Infant Crying in a Randomized Clinical Trial of ABC. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 51(5), 780-795.
Wesarg-Menzel, C., Ebbes, R., Hensums, M., Wagemaker, E., Zaharieva, M. S., Staaks, J. P. C., … Wiers, R. W.(2023). Development and socialization of self-regulation from infancy to adolescence: A meta-review differentiating between self-regulatory abilities, goals, and motivation. Developmental Review, 69, 101090. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2023.101090
Wolke, D., Meyer, R., & Gray, P.(1994). Validity of the crying pattern questionnaire in a sample of excessively crying babies. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 12(2), 105-114.
Wu, Y.-C., Hsieh, W.-S., Hsu, C.-H., Chang, J.-H., Chou, H.-C., Hsu, H.-C., … Jeng, S.-F.(2016). Intervention effects on emotion regulation in preterm infants With very low birth weight: A randomize controlled trial. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 48, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2015.10.016
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Rudolph, J., Kerin, J., & Bohadana-Brown, G.(2022). Parent emotional regulation: A meta-analytic review of its association with parenting and child adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 46(1), 63-82.
Zimmermann, L. K., & Stansbury, K.(2003). The Influence of Temperamental Reactivity and Situational Context on the Emotion-Regulatory Abilities of 3-Year-Old Children. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 164(4), 389-409.
卜琳,李晶. (2024). 早期亲子互动与儿童社会性发展——基于互动行为编码方案的应用证据. 心理发展与教育, 40(6), 894-904.
张育珊,洪黛珊. (2017). 父母应对方式与5~6岁儿童情绪调节策略的关系. 学前教育研究, 1, 53-63.
时嘉惠, 王争艳, 尚睿娴, 梁熙. (2017). 依恋类型与学步儿情绪调节策略的发展:一项追踪研究. 中国临床心理学杂志, 25(4), 603-607+602.
李晓巍, 杨青青, 邹泓. (2017). 父母对幼儿消极情绪的反应方式与幼儿情绪调节能力的关系. 心理发展与教育, 33(4), 385-393.
邢淑芬, 梁熙, 岳建宏, 王争艳. (2016). 祖辈共同养育背景下多重依恋关系及对幼儿社会-情绪性发展的影响. 心理学报, 48(5), 518-528.
[1] YANG Shuyun, LI Zihan, REN Ping. Effects of Bullying Victimization on NSSI in Early Adolescent: The Role of Loneliness and Emotion Regulation Strategies [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2026, 42(1): 121-130.
[2] WEI Shilin, XU Bin, YIN Xiaojuan, ZHU Ziliang, CHEN Juntao, Jin Hua. Childhood Emotional Neglect Experience and Undergraduates' Emotion Regulation Strategies: Preference and Its Brain Structure [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2024, 40(3): 357-366.
[3] WANG Daoyang, LU Xiang, YIN Xin. The Association of Negative Academic Emotions on Perceived Academic Self-efficacy of Migrant Children: The Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation Strategies [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2017, 33(1): 56-64.
[4] WANG Mingzhu, ZOU Hong, LI Xiaowei, ZHANG Wenjuan, WANG Yingqian, JIANG Suo. Marital Conflict and Preschool Children's Parenting Styles: The Moderating Role of Parental Emotion Regulation Strategies [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2015, 31(3): 279-286.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited
  Shared   
  Discussed   
No Suggested Reading articles found!
Copyright 2018 © Editorial office of Psychological Development and Education
Supported by Beijing Magtech Co.Ltd