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Cited by 95Attachment and Relationship DynamicsChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Infant gaze, head, face and self-touch at 4 months differentiate secure vs. avoidant attachment at 1 year: a microanalytic approach

Koulomzin, Marina, Beebe, Beatrice, Anderson, Samuel, Jaffe, Joseph, Feldstein, Stanley, Crown, Cynthia·2002·Attachment & Human Development
DOI 10.1080/14616730210123120
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Abstract

The study attempted to distinguish avoidant vs. secure infants at 1 year from 4-month infant behavior only, during a face-to-face play interaction with the mother. Thirty-five 4-month-old infants were coded second by second for infant gaze, head orientation, facial expression and self-touch/mouthing behavior. Mother behavior was not coded. At 1 year, 27 of these infants were classified as secure (B), and 8 as avoidant (A) attachment in the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Compared with the B infant, the future A infant spent less time paying 'focused' visual attention (a look of a minimum 2 seconds duration) to the mother's face. Only if the A infant engaged in self-touch/mouthing behavior did its focused visual attention match that of the B. Markovian t to t+1 transition matrices then showed that both for future A and for future B infants, focused visual attention on the mother constrained the movements of the head to within 60 degrees from center vis-à-vis, defining head/gaze co-ordination within an attentional-interpersonal space. However, infant maintenance of head/gaze co-ordination was associated with self-touch/mouthing behavior for the A infant but not the B. Positive affect was associated with a disruption of head/gaze co-ordination for the A but not the B. Whereas the B had more variable facial behavior, potentially providing more facial signaling for the mother, the A had more variable tactile/mouthing behavior, changing patterns of self-soothing more often. Thus, infants classified as A vs. B at 12 months showed different behavioral patterns in face-to-face play with their mothers as early as 4 months.

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Authors
Koulomzin, M., Beebe, B., Anderson, S., Jaffe, J., Feldstein, S., & Crown, C.
ORCID
Venue
Attachment & Human Development
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2002-05
Volume
4
Issue
1
Pages
3-24
ISSN
  • 1461-6734 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2988
DOI
10.1080/14616730210123120
OpenAlex
W2166851259
Cited by
95
References
101
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 8 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 9
FWCI
5.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Attachment & Human Development (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01mh041675-03)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH41675)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
infant attachment, attachment avoidance, secure attachment, infant gaze, head orientation, facial expressions, self-touch, mouthing behavior, mother-infant interaction, self-soothing, positive affect
MeSH terms
Age Factors, Facial Expression, Fixation, Ocular, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Infant, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment, Play and Playthings, Sampling Studies, Touch, Infant Behavior

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