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Cited by 29Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentAttachment and Relationship Dynamics

The games infants play: Social games during early mother–infant interactions and their relationship with oxytocin

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Markova, Gabriela·2018·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01041PMC PMC6026809
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Abstract

The present study examined early social game routines during natural face-to-face mother-infant interactions and their relationship with oxytocin. Forty-three mother-infant dyads were observed, when infants were 4 months old, during a procedure involving a baseline and a natural interaction, where mothers were instructed to interact with their infants as they would at home. During this procedure four saliva samples from mothers and infants were collected to determine levels of oxytocin at different time points. Social game routines and infant social engagement (gaze, positive, and negative affect) were coded during the natural interaction. Social games were observed in 76.7% of the mother-infant dyads, and 46 different types of games were identified. Mothers initiated games to re-engage infants significantly more often than when infants were already engaged with them. During the games, infants showed more positive affect and less negative affect in comparison to the rest of the interaction. Finally, maternal increase in oxytocin from before to after the natural interaction was positively correlated with game rate and time spent in games, while infant increase in oxytocin from before to after the natural interaction was inversely related to game rate. These results indicate that social games are an inherent part of early mother-infant interactions, and their occurrence is associated with oxytocin of both infants and mothers.

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  • Markova (2018) failed to find an association between parent-infant play and infant oxytocin levels.

    “However, Markova (2018) failed to find an association between parent-infant play and infant oxytocin levels.”

    From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Markova (2018)

    The Results section reports significant negative correlations between game rate and both infant oxytocin after the interaction and change in infant oxytocin. The Discussion likewise describes an inverse relationship between playful mother–infant interactions and infant oxytocin. The paper therefore found an association, rather than failing to find one. (LLM, conf=0.93)

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  • Although maternal oxytocin levels were positively associated with the number of games played and the time spent playing games, infant oxytocin levels demonstrated the opposite pattern.

    “Although maternal oxytocin levels were positively associated with the number of games played and the time spent playing games, infant oxytocin levels demonstrated the opposite pattern.”

    From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Markova (2018)

  • Time spent playing games was inversely related to infants' rise in oxytocin.

    “Time spent playing games was inversely related to infants’ rise in oxytocin.”

    From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Markova (2018)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Markova, G.
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2018-06-25
Volume
9
Pages
1041-1041
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01041
PMC
PMC6026809
OpenAlex
W2806106089
Cited by
29
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1
FWCI
3.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Phaidra (Universität Wien) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Grantová Agentura České Republiky (P47/10/P610)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Keywords
social games, mother-infant interaction, oxytocin, infant gaze, infant affect, early infancy, face-to-face interaction, re-engagement

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