Examining the psychophysiological correlates of infants’ attachment behaviors during the Still Face Paradigm

The aim of the current study is to extend our understanding of the biological imbedding of attachment representations by examining the psychophysiological correlates of infants’ attachment behaviors. A recent meta-analysis indicated that infant attachment security measured during the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) is associated with infants’ heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and cortisol responses during the reunion portion of the task (Groh & Narayan, 2019). Additionally, some data suggest that infants’ attachment behaviors during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP; Tronick et al., 1978), which is a theoretically similar task for infants 6-12 months of age, may also be associated with their physiological responses during this task (Conradt & Ablow, 2010). However, this latter focus is less researched. The current study will build on prior literature by assessing whether infants’ avoidant and resistant attachment behaviors during the SFP are uniquely associated with their autonomic (namely, heart rate, RSA, and electrodermal) and cortisol responses to the SFP reunion.