Paper Announcement by Beatrice Beebe (USA)

Urgent Engagement in 9/11 Pregnant Widows and Their Infants: Transmission of Trauma

Beebe, B., Hoven, C.W., Kaitz, M., Steele, M., Musa, G., Margolis, A., Ewing, J., Sossin, K.M., Lee, S.H. (2020). Infancy, 25(2): 165-189, published online, January 31, https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12323.

The potential effects of maternal trauma on mother-infant interaction remain insufficiently studied empirically. This study examined the effects of the September 11, 2001 trauma on mother-infant interaction in mothers who were pregnant and widowed on 9/11, and their infants aged 4-6 months. Split-screen videotaped interaction was coded on a one-second basis for infant gaze, facial affect and vocal affect; mother gaze, facial affect and touch. We examined the temporal dynamics of communication: self-and interactive contingency of behavior by time-series methods. We documented heightened maternal and infant efforts at engagement in the 9/11 (vs. control) dyads. Both partners had difficulty tolerating moments of looking away as well as moments of negative behavior patterns. Heightened efforts to maintain a positive, visual engagement may be adaptive and a potential source of resilience, but these patterns may also carry risk: working too hard to make it work. A vigilant, hyper-contingent, high arousal engagement was the central mode of the interpersonal transmission of the trauma to these infants, with implications for intervention.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/infa.12323

Beatrice Beebe, PhD
Clinical Professor of Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University Medical Center
New York State Psychiatric Institute #108
1051 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10032
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