The goal of this study is to examine attentional biases for facial displays of emotion as a mechanism of risk in infants of mothers with postpartum major depression, and the potential role of infant arousal in the development of these attentional biases.
As part of the study protocol, infants will complete a computer-based task in which they view facial displays of emotion (angry, happy, sad, neutral) while an eye tracker records their gaze. Mother and infants will also complete a standardized interaction task during which the investigators assess infant gaze and psychophysiology. The task consists of three stages, each of which lasts three minutes. For the first stage (Free Play 1), infants sit in a highchair and mothers are asked to play with their baby as they normally would, without any toys or other objects. In the second stage (Sad), mothers are asked to think about times when they are sad or depressed and do not feel able to effectively play with their child. Mothers are instructed to look at their child but speak in a monotone and minimize body movement or any physical contact with the infant. In the third stage (Free Play 2), mothers again interact with their infants normally for three minutes. These two tasks are consistent with the definition of a Basic Experimental Study in Humans (BESH).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
225
Infants will complete a computer-based task in which they view facial displays of emotion (angry, happy, sad, neutral) while an eye tracker records their gaze.
Mother and infants will also complete a standardized interaction task during which we assess infant gaze and psychophysiology. The task consists of three stages, each of which lasts three minutes. For the first stage (Free Play 1), infants sit in a highchair and mothers are asked to play with their baby as they normally would, without any toys or other objects. In the second stage (Sad), mothers are asked to think about times when they are sad or depressed and do not feel able to effectively play with their child. They are instructed to look at their child but speak in a monotone and minimize body movement or any physical contact with the infant. In the third stage (Free Play 2), mothers again interact with their infants normally for three minutes.
Binghamton University
Binghamton, New York, United States
RECRUITINGEye gaze during computer-based task
Used to determine percent of infant attention allocated to each emotional stimulus type (angry, happy, sad, neutral) during the computer-based task
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up
Eye gaze during the interaction task
Used to assess the proportion of time during each phase of the interaction task that babies look at their mother (versus away from their mother)
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up
Infant Heart Rate
During the interaction tasks, the investigators will record infant electrocardiography (ECG) to calculate heart rate (HR) using a MindWare Mobile system.
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up
Infant Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia
During the interaction tasks, the investigators will record infant electrocardiography (ECG) to calculate respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) using a MindWare Mobile system. To calculate RSA, spectral power analyses will be performed with a fast Fourier transformation. RSA will be defined as power density in the .24-1.04 Hz frequency band and will be calculated for each 30 s epoch of each task.
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow ups
Infant social-emotional problems
Infants' social-emotional problems will be assessed using mother reports on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2). Higher scores on the ASQ:SE-2 reflect greater social-emotional problems.
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups
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