Baby-caregiver dyadic exchanges in different placement settings: an ethological study

ABSTRACT

This study used an ethological approach to explore the baby-caregiver dyadic exchanges (Attempted interactions, Triggers, Interactions) of nineteen infants during their first weeks in Residential Care (RC), or a Foster Family (FF) or an Infant-Mother Centre (IMC). Direct observations were conducted at feeding time. Observed behaviours were: baby glances/gazes, dyadic exchanges and dyadic exchanges’ initiator, in addition to the baby’s behavioural repertoire. Descriptive analyses showed that attempted interactions were emitted more often than triggers, which themselves were more frequent than interactions. Interactions took place more often during the post-feeding phase. Vocalizations were linked to the infant’s capacities to initiate interactions, and mouth movements were linked to sustained gazing. Non-parametric analyses showed that, in RC, fewer dyadic exchanges happened and babies showed the least visual attention. By contrast, in IMC, sustained gazes and baby-mother interactions were the highest. In FF, the results fell between those obtained in RC and IMC.

KEYWORDS:

• Baby
• institutionalization
• foster family
• observation
• interaction
• exchanges

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 As the duration of the post-feeding phase could be very variable from session to session and depending on whether the caregiver was trying to put the baby to sleep or not, it seemed more relevant to express baby glances/gazes and dyadic exchanges in raw frequencies than in relative frequencies. The variables related to dyadic exchanges variables being unconditionally linked to the presence of the adult with the child, it appeared justified to consider the observation session as a unit of analyses.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edwige Ducreux

Edwige Ducreux, specialized in human ethology, Lecturer at the Institut National Supérieur du Professorat et de l'Éducation (INSPE, Lille), Research Associate at the PSITEC lab (University of Lille) and at the Institut Universitaire de Première Ligne en Santè et Services Sociaux (IUPLSSS, Quebec), and Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology of the University of Sherbrooke, Edwige Ducreux's research interests focus on the development of the child within his family and his community. Her research on infants placed for maltreatment or adoption has been the subject of training for professionals working in early childhood, in France as in Quebec. Her postdoctoral research, based on the father-child activation relationship, led to the development of an observational evaluation grid to qualify this relationship in vivo during periods of free play. The implementation of this evaluation tool in the services offered by the Youth Program Directorate of the Estrie Health and Social Services Centre helped to offer fathers services adapted to their expectations and specific characteristics. Finally, her current studies focuses on the child's adaptation to school. In teaching as in research, she works on the development of educational or intervention practices, aimed at giving back empowerment to the child and of his relational environment.

Guadalupe Puentes-Neuman

Guadalupe Puentes-Neuman is a clinical psychologist and an associate professor at the Department of psychology in the Université de Sherbrooke, Longueuil campus. Her clinical and research activities revolve around parent-infant relations and their impact on the child's socioemotional development.