This study examined whether instructing mothers to apply emotion regulation strategies can change mothers’ perception and reactivity to infant crying in an experimental within-subject design. Perception of crying, skin conductance level (SCL), facial expressivity, and intended caregiving responses to cry sounds were measured in mothers (N = 101, M = 30.88 years) who received suppression, reappraisal, and no emotion regulation instructions. Reappraisal resulted in lower SCL during exposure to crying and a less negative perception of crying compared to the suppression condition. In contrast, suppression resulted in increased facial expressions of sadness compared to the control condition. Thus, simple instructions on how to reframe thoughts about crying can change mothers’ perception of and reactivity to crying.

SYNOPSISObjective. Mothers’ affective responses to infant laughing are essential in parent-child interaction. This experimental study examined whether instructing mothers to employ emotion regulation strategies can change their self-reported, physiological, and facial expressive responses to infant laughing. Design. Using a within-subjects design, mothers (N = 100, age M = 30.87 years) were exposed to infant laughing sounds while receiving enhancement, suppression, and no emotion regulation instructions. Positive affect, perception of laughing, intended sensitive and insensitive caregiving responses, skin conductance level, and facial expressions in response to infant laughing were measured. Results. Enhancement resulted in increased positive affect, a more positive perception of the laugh, more intended sensitive caregiving responses, and, compared to suppression, fewer intended insensitive caregiving responses. Moreover, enhancement resulted in lower sad and, compared to suppression, higher happy facial expressi-vity. In contrast, suppression resulted in a less positive perception. Enhancement did not affect skin conductance level. Conclusions. Enhancement can have beneficial effects on mothers’ self-reported and facial expressive responses to infant laughing in an experimental setting. Enhancement instructions may be used to increase mothers’ positive feelings in response to infant laughing and to promote sensitive caregiving behaviors and positive facial expressions, which may benefit affective mother-child interchanges.

Depressive symptoms are common in the postpartum period and can affect mother–infant interaction. To better understand the role of depressive symptoms in the mother–infant interchange, this study examined whether maternal depressive symptoms are associated with self-reported, physiological, and facial expressive responses to infant crying and laughing sounds. A nonclinical sample was used, consisting of 101 mothers (Age M = 30.88 years, 33% scored 7 or higher on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) with a young child. Mothers were exposed to standard infant crying and laughing sounds. Affect, perception of crying and laughing, intended caregiving responses, skin conductance level reactivity, and facial expressive responses to infant crying and laughing were measured. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with more self-reported negative affect in general and a more negative perception of infant crying. Depressive symptoms were not associated with intended caregiving responses and physiological responses to infant crying. Infant laughing increased self-reported positive affect and happy facial expressions in mothers with all levels of depressive symptoms. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with higher sad facial expressivity in general. Depressive symptoms were not related to positive perception of infant laughing, intended caregiving responses, and physiological responses to infant laughing. The findings suggest that mothers who score high on depressive symptoms send subtle facial cues showing sadness, which may overshadow happy facial expressions during infant laughing and may affect mother–infant interaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)