Mother-infant affect synchrony as an antecedent of the emergence of self-control

This study examined relations between mother-infant affect synchrony and th e emergence of children's self-control. Mother-infant face-to-face play and infant difficult temperament were examined at 3 and 9 months. Maternal and infant affective states at play were coded in 0.25-s frames, and synchrony was computed with cross-correlation functions. Self-control, verbal IQ, an d maternal warm discipline were assessed at 2 years. Maternal synchrony wit h infant affect at 3 months (infant-leads-mother-follows relation) and mutu al synchrony at 9 months (cross-dependence between maternal and infant affe ct) were each related to self-control at 2 years when temperament, IQ, and maternal style were partialed. Infant temperament moderated the relations o f synchrony and self-control, and closer associations were found between mu tual synchrony and self-control for difficult infants. Shorter lags to mate rnal synchrony at 3 months were independently related to self-control. The mutual regulation of affect in infancy, as moderated by temperament, is pro posed as an important contributor to the emergence of self-regulation.