Individual differences in infant attention skills,joint attention,and emotion regulation behaviour

Abstract

This study examined the concurrent and predictive relations between infant attention skills, joint attention, and emotion regulation. Infants' gaze following skills and duration of orienting were assessed at 6 months of age, and collaborative joint attention and emotion regulation skills were assessed at 24 months of age. The results indicated that infants' ability to follow direction of gaze at 6 months was significantly correlated with emotion regulation strategy use at 24 months of age, and that collaborative joint attention at 24 months was significantly correlated with emotion regulation strategy use at 24 months of age. The results of this study are consistent with previous research finding associations between collaborative joint attention and children's emotion regulation behaviour. These data also suggest that children's preexisting visual attention skills may contribute to their ability to regulate emotion.

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