Links between Maternal Anxiety Symptoms, Maternal Vagal Regulation, and Infant Attachment

Infant attachment insecurity is a risk factor for poor outcomes related to social-emotional functioning in children (Groh, Fearon, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Roisman, 2017) and anxiety and depression in adolescents (Lee & Hankin, 2009). Thus, understanding predictors of infant attachment is important. Maternal anxiety symptomology is a key predictor of infant attachment that has been associated with infant attachment insecurity (Scher & Mayseless, 2000; Stevenson-Hinde, Shouldice, & Chicot, 2011). Another key predictor of infant attachment outcomes is maternal vagal regulation (Oppenheimer et al., 2013; Leerkes et al., 2017), which has also been empirically linked to maternal anxiety symptoms (Kircanski, Waugh, Camacho, & Gotlib, 2016). Based on previous research, two competing models were tested in the present study to examine the links between maternal anxiety symptoms, maternal vagal regulation (RSA reactivity), and infant attachment, including both a moderated mediational and alternative moderational model. In both models, infant negative affectivity was included as a moderator, given theory and research suggesting infants with greater temperamental negative affectivity are more susceptible to environmental influences (van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012). Neither model was supported, but findings showed maternal vagal withdrawal significantly predicted infant attachment security, but only for dyads in which infants became distressed. A significant correlation between maternal income and psychological distress, as well as a significant correlation between infant negative affectivity and maternal anxiety were also found.