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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Emotion Regulation and Processing
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1398042
This article is part of the Research Topic From Social Wires to Neurobiological Connections: A Neuropsychobiological Focus on Parent-Child Interaction View all 6 articles

From Inner to Dyadic Connection: The Role of Mindfulness in Mother-Infant Interaction During the First Year of Life

Provisionally accepted
Ilenia Passaquindici Ilenia Passaquindici 1Massimiliano Pastore Massimiliano Pastore 2Odette Nardozza Odette Nardozza 3Francesca Lionetti Francesca Lionetti 1Giulio D'Urso Giulio D'Urso 3Riccardo Palumbo Riccardo Palumbo 1Mirco Fasolo Mirco Fasolo 1Maria Spinelli Maria Spinelli 1*
  • 1 Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Studies G. d'Annunzio Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy
  • 2 Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, School of Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Veneto, Italy
  • 3 Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Mother-infant attunement is fundamental to support infant socio-emotional development. Based on the assumption that we connect better with others if we are aware of and connected with our own experience, mindfulness could affect maternal ability to attune to the infant. However, little is known about this topic in the first year of life. Study 1 aimed to investigate the role of maternal dispositional mindfulness and mindful parenting in mother-infant physiological and behavioral attunement at 3 months of age. Study 2 aimed to explore the effect of a mindfulness-based intervention not specific of parenting experience on mother-infant behavioral and physiological attunement and on maternal well-being at 9 months of age. Methods: In Study 1, mother-infant (n = 67) behavioral and physiological attunement (i.e., co-regulation and RSA) were collected simultaneously each 20 sec during face-to-face interaction. Mothers completed questionnaires about their dispositional mindfulness and mindful parenting. In Study 2, mother-infant dyads were randomly divided into a control (n = 20) and intervention group (n = 29). The intervention group attended a 5 weeks mindfulness-based intervention. At T1 and T2, the same procedure described in Study 1 was applied and mothers reported about their well-being. Results: Results showed that maternal mindfulness was associated with high physiological and behavioral attunement at 3 months, and with more positive maternal behaviors and less stress at 9 months. Analysis evidenced a slight improvement in the intervention group in maternal dispositional mindfulness and a reduction in parenting stress at T2. Discussion: Findings from both studies suggested that maternal mindfulness could represent a protective factor that could support mothers to foster better dyadic interactions with their infants. The implementation of mindfulness-based interventions for mothers could have preventive and clinical implications.

    Keywords: mindfulness, mindfulness-based interventions, Physiological attunement, mother-infant interaction, parenting stress

    Received: 08 Mar 2024; Accepted: 23 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Passaquindici, Pastore, Nardozza, Lionetti, D'Urso, Palumbo, Fasolo and Spinelli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Maria Spinelli, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Studies G. d'Annunzio Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, 66100, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.