Parental personality traits and emotion regulation difficulties: their relationship with early triadic interactions and infant’s socioemotional development

Abstract

Background: socioemotional development is a pivotal aspect of human life, particularly during infancy, and is intricately woven within the personal and interpersonal dynamics of caregiver- infant interactions. This longitudinal study represents a pioneering exploration into the associations between mothers’ and fathers’ personality traits, emotion regulation difficulties, triadic interactions, and infants’ socioemotional development during the perinatal period. Objective: The primary objective was to investigate the complex interplay between parental personality traits and emotion regulation difficulties in mother-father-baby triads with its impact on early triadic interactions and infants’ socioemotional development. Methods: In this non-experimental, longitudinal study, 55 Chilean mother-father-baby triads were assessed from pregnancy until infant’s sixth month after birth. Additionally, parental levels of personality functioning, relationship satisfaction, depressive symptomatology and childhood adverse experiences were considered as potential covariables. Results: Findings revealed that maternal and paternal attributes have particular predictive values and exert distinct influences on both triadic interactions as well as infant’s socioemotional development from pregnancy until infants’ 6-months postpartum. Notably, maternal emotionality and paternal agreeableness, as well as both significant caregiver’s emotion regulation difficulties emerged as significant factors when fostering collaborative triadic interactions and enhancing infant’s socioemotional development. Additionally, when cofounding variables were included, maternal depressive symptomatology emerged as a significant predictor of infant’s socioemotional difficulties at 6-months postpartum. Moreover, the study highlights the moderating role of triadic interactions, emphasizing their significance in influencing the relationship between maternal emotion regulation difficulties and infant’s socioemotional development. Discussion: This research stresses the need for a comprehensive longitudinal perspective in understanding the impact of significant caregivers’ characteristics upon early triadic interactions and infant’s socioemotional development. Therefore, it acknowledges the unique dynamics of the perinatal period, while considering the individualities within each family triad which is crucial for unraveling the complexities inherent in the intricate fabric of family relationships and infant’s socioemotional development.