Infants’ social evaluation abilities: testing their preference for prosocial agents at 6, 12 and 18 months with different social scenarios

International audienceA recent body of research suggests infants prefer prosocial behaviours. However, some studies failed to report this preference, and asked what specific parameters allow to observe it. We attempt to provide a part of answer to that question by investigating if the preference vary 1) with age (testing infants aged 6, 12, 18 months), 2) with the type of social behaviours (help, play and share), and 3) when the pro-and antisocial agents' appearance were manipulated (i.e., displaying neutral, own-race or other-race faces). To this end, we use an eye-tracking methodology to assess infants' preference between pro-and antisocial agents featured in animated cartoons. We found that the prosocial preference was not stable across ages and varied depending on social scenarios. No sound conclusion could be given about the influence of faces. Our results invite to wonder in which extent very young infants perceive the prosociality in complex social behaviours

Profiles of Parental Burnout Around the Globe: Similarities and Differences Across 36 Countries

Parental burnout (PB) is a pervasive phenomenon. Parenting is embedded in cultural values, and previous research has shown the role of individualism in PB. In this paper, we reanalyze previously collected data to identify profiles based on the four dimensions of PB, and explore whether these profiles vary across countries’ levels of collectivistic-individualistic (COL-IND) values. Our sample comprised 16,885 individuals from 36 countries (73% women; 27% men), and we used a latent profile approach to uncover PB profiles. The findings showed five profiles: Fulfilled, Not in PB, Low risk of PB, High risk of PB and Burned out. The profiles pointed to climbing levels of PB in the total sample and in each of the three country groups (High COL/Low IND, Medium COL-IND, Low COL/High IND). Exploratory analyses revealed that distinct dimensions of PB had the most prominent roles in the climbing pattern, depending on the countries’ levels of COL/IND. In particular, we found contrast to be a hallmark dimension and an indicator of severe burnout for individualistic countries. Contrary to our predictions, emotional distance and saturation did not allow a clear differentiation across collectivistic countries. Our findings support several research avenues regarding PB measurement and intervention

Humans and chimpanzees attend differently to goal-directed actions

ヒト特有の学びのスタイルが明らかに. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2012-02-22.Humans comprehend the actions of others by making inferences about intentional mental states of another. However, little is known about how this capacity develops and whether this is shared with other animals. Here we show the ontogenetic and evolutionary foundations of this ability by comparing the eye movements of 8- and 12-month-old human infants, adults and chimpanzees as they watched videos presenting goal-directed and non-goal-directed actions by an actor. We find that chimpanzees anticipate action goals in the same way as do human adults. Humans and chimpanzees, however, scan goal-directed actions differently. Humans, particularly infants, refer to actors' faces significantly more than do chimpanzees. In human adults, attentional allocation to an actor's face changes as the goal-directed actions proceed. In the case of non-goal-directed actions, human adults attend less often to faces relative to goal-directed actions. These findings indicate that humans have a predisposition to observe goal-directed actions by integrating information from the actor

Comment étudier scientifiquement la fonction de communication de la motricité chez le nourrisson ?

International audienceThe idea that the infant communicates with his environment through his movements is widespread. However, it is interesting to note that research on the communicative function of infant’s motor activity in a scientific approach is rare and scarce. This article presents several research exploring this issue and preliminary results of our research team. We first present our theoretical framework two of our research line : (1) variations in infant motor activity during dyadic interactions, and (2) ) identification of infant’s emotions through his movements. The presented results suggest that the demonstration of the communicative function of infant movements is hard to carry and must be based on various and complementary methodologies.L'idée selon laquelle le nourrisson communique avec son environnement par le biais de ses mouvements est très répandue. Pour autant, il est intéressant de noter que les études sur la fonction de communication de l'activité motrice du jeune enfant dans une démarche scientifique sont rares et lacunaires. Cet article présente plusieurs recherches explorant cette question chez le nourrisson et des résultats préliminaires de nos travaux. Nous présenterons tout d'abord le cadre théorique dans lequel s'inscrit notre réflexion, avant de présenter deux de nos axes de recherche : (1) étude des variations de l'activité motrice du nourrisson au cours d'interactions dyadiques, et (2) étude de l'identification des émotions chez le nourrisson en mouvement. Les résultats présentés suggèrent que la démonstration de la fonction de communication des mouvements du nourrisson est difficile et doit reposer sur des méthodologies variées et complémentaires

Attitudes posturales de la mère dans la façon de porter son enfant (latéralité et rôle des variables émotionnelles et relationnelles)

AIX-MARSEILLE1-BU Lettres (130012101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Parental Burn-out : Influence of demographic factors and Infant temperament

International audienceParenthood can prove to be a difficult and stressful experience, as mothers and fathers are exposed to any number of chronic stressors inherent to their role as parents (Latson, 1995). These feelings of stress, combined with the accumulation of seemingly challenging situations, can lead to a state of so-called parental burnout. Many factors explain the interindividual differences in parental burnout as defined by Roskam, Raes and Mikolajczak (2017). This study, which included 272 parents, examines the relationship between parental burnout assess by PBI (Roskam et al., 2017), demographic factors (gender of parents and children, age of parents and children and number of children present in the family home) and infant temperament (IBQ & ECBQ), assessed by the parent. With regard to demographic factors, our results show that the younger the parents surveyed, the more they report a high sense of personal accomplishment, but they tend to feel more exhausted. Similar results are observed when we look at the age of children. In addition, the number of children at home slightly increases the emotional distance between the parent and their children. This first result of our study is consistent with previous studies (e.g., Mikolajczak, Raes, Avalosse, & Roskam, 2017) who show that parent of children below 5 years old are more at risk to develop parental burn out than the other. This result shows how import is it to focus study on parent of young children. Another result found by Le Vigouroux, Scola, Raes, Mikolajczak, & Roskam (2017) showed the impact of individual differences in parental burnout. Three personality traits are linked with parental burn out: a high level of neuroticism, a low level of conscientiousness, and a low level of agreeableness were all found to be risk factors for parental burnout. Theses two results conduct us to question in a second step of our study the effect of the perception of the infant temperament assess by IBQ (3 to 18-month-old) and ECBQ (18 to 36 months old) on parental burnout. If individual differences in parental personality traits could be protective factors or risk factors to develop parental burnout we could hypothesis that the perception of the infant temperament too. Analyses test the individual variability effect on the infant temperament on parental burn out in our population of 272 parents. We hypothesis that perceiving infants with high level of arousal and more negative affect are at risk to develop parental burnout. This study is the first one to our knowledge to link this two field of research

Differences in parental burnout: Influence of demographic factors and personality of parents and children

International audienceParental burnout is a syndrome related to parenthood and characterized by three dimensions: emotional and physical exhaustion, emotional distancing of parents from their children, and loss of parental accomplishment. Many factors can explain the interindividual differences in parental burnout (Roskam et al., 2017). In a study conducted among 372 French parents, we examined the relationship between parental burnout, demographic factors (age of parent and child(ren), age of parent at first birth, total number of children, and number of children present in the family home) and parent-assessed dispositional factors (personality traits of parent and child(ren)). Results for demographic factors showed that the younger the parents we surveyed, the higher their reported sense of parental accomplishment, although they also tended to feel more exhausted. We observed a similar pattern of results when we looked at the children’s ages. In addition, the number of children at home slightly increased the emotional distance between parent and child(ren). Results for the parents’ dispositional factors showed that all three personality traits we investigated, as well as their different facets (lack of emotional control and lack of impulse control for neuroticism, meticulousness and perseverance for conscientiousness, and cooperation and friendliness for agreeableness), were related to parental burnout and its three dimensions. More specifically, parental meticulousness and lack of emotional control were both risk factors for developing parental burnout. By contrast, agreeableness and perseverance were protective factors. With regard to the children, the same three personality traits were linked to the three dimensions of parental burnout. Having children they perceived as having a high level of neuroticism reduced parents’ sense of parental accomplishment and increased their emotional exhaustion and distancing. The opposite relationships were found for agreeableness and conscientiousness. There were no significant relationships between parental assessments of their children’ extraversion and openness and parental burnout and its three dimensions. The parent’s personality explained 42.3% of the variance in parental burnout, and the child(ren)’s personality (parent-assessed) explained 13.8%. Taken together, these results demonstrate the importance of considering the personality of both parents and children in the study of parental burnout

Le burnout parental et la dépression du post-partum : quelles différences ?

National audienceLe burnout parental, la dépression du postpartum et la dépression majeure sont des pathologies ayant des symptomatologies communes, mais qui ne sont pas à confondre les unes avec les autres. Cet article a pour objectif de définir chacun de ces troubles avant de documenter les similitudes, les différences et la question du diagnostic différentiel dans chacune de ces pathologies

Parental Burn-out : Influence of demographic factors and Infant temperament

International audienceParenthood can prove to be a difficult and stressful experience, as mothers and fathers are exposed to any number of chronic stressors inherent to their role as parents (Latson, 1995). These feelings of stress, combined with the accumulation of seemingly challenging situations, can lead to a state of so-called parental burnout. Many factors explain the interindividual differences in parental burnout as defined by Roskam, Raes and Mikolajczak (2017). This study, which included 272 parents, examines the relationship between parental burnout assess by PBI (Roskam et al., 2017), demographic factors (gender of parents and children, age of parents and children and number of children present in the family home) and infant temperament (IBQ & ECBQ), assessed by the parent. With regard to demographic factors, our results show that the younger the parents surveyed, the more they report a high sense of personal accomplishment, but they tend to feel more exhausted. Similar results are observed when we look at the age of children. In addition, the number of children at home slightly increases the emotional distance between the parent and their children. This first result of our study is consistent with previous studies (e.g., Mikolajczak, Raes, Avalosse, & Roskam, 2017) who show that parent of children below 5 years old are more at risk to develop parental burn out than the other. This result shows how import is it to focus study on parent of young children. Another result found by Le Vigouroux, Scola, Raes, Mikolajczak, & Roskam (2017) showed the impact of individual differences in parental burnout. Three personality traits are linked with parental burn out: a high level of neuroticism, a low level of conscientiousness, and a low level of agreeableness were all found to be risk factors for parental burnout. Theses two results conduct us to question in a second step of our study the effect of the perception of the infant temperament assess by IBQ (3 to 18-month-old) and ECBQ (18 to 36 months old) on parental burnout. If individual differences in parental personality traits could be protective factors or risk factors to develop parental burnout we could hypothesis that the perception of the infant temperament too. Analyses test the individual variability effect on the infant temperament on parental burn out in our population of 272 parents. We hypothesis that perceiving infants with high level of arousal and more negative affect are at risk to develop parental burnout. This study is the first one to our knowledge to link this two field of research

Social interaction is associated with changes in infants’ motor activity

International audienceBackground: In developmental research, infants are commonly assumed to be early stakeholders in interactionswith their caregivers. The tools that infants can use to interact with others vary from visual contact to smiling orvocalizing, and also include motor activity. However, surprisingly few studies have explored how the nature andcontext of social interactions affect infants’ engagement in motor activity.Methods: We investigated the kinematic properties of foot and face movements produced by 11 infants agedbetween 5 and 9 months during six contrasting dyadic episodes (i.e. passive presence of a stranger or theinfant’s mother, weak or intense interaction with the stranger/mother as she sings a nursery play song).Results: The infants’ face and foot motor activity was significantly reduced during the interactive episodes,compared with the episodes without any interaction, in both the mother and stranger conditions.Furthermore, the level of their motor activity was significantly lower in the stranger condition than in themother one for some parameters.Conclusion: These results are in line with those reported by previous studies and confirm the relevance ofusing motor activity to delineate the early forms of interactive episodes in infants