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Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

College

Charles E Schmidt College of Science

Co-Author Type 1

Undergraduate Student

Keywords

Maternal anxiety, Mother-infant interactions, Parent Anxiety measure, General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Self-reported anxiety, Observed anxiety, Maternal sensitivity, Infant development, Behavioral coding, Zoom-based observational study, Anxiety and parenting, Mother-infant dyads

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Research pertaining to maternal anxiety and mother-infant interactions is a rapidly growing field. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between self-reported maternal anxiety ratings and observer-rated maternal anxiety scores. Thirty-nine motherinfant dyads participated in a four-minute free-play session via Zoom. The Parent Anxiety measure from the Coding Interactive Behavior scale was used to measure observed maternal anxiety. The General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale was used to measure self-reported maternal anxiety. No significant association was found between self-reported maternal anxiety and observed maternal anxiety. An exploratory analysis was conducted to compare self-reported maternal anxiety and observed maternal sensitivity. A trending association between maternal sensitivity and an infant’s age was identified, but a strong association cannot be confirmed without further research. These findings highlight the complexity of anxiety and its role in mother-child interactions and emphasize the importance of contributing to this growing field.

Advisors

Teresa Wilcox

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