At Babies and More, we have frequently talked about the importance of playing and spending time with our children since they are little, and the various investigations that have been done in this regard confirm that playing with parents is highly positive for them.
Now, a new study has found that when the mother plays and interacts with her child, the behavior and physiology of both are coordinated , benefiting the emotional development of the little ones.
The study
Published in the journal Developmental Psychology , the study by researchers at the University of Illinois looked at how physiological and behavioral reactions are coordinated during playtime between mothers and preschool-age children .
To do this, a series of tests were conducted in which each mother-child pair played in various ways, while the researchers measured their parasynthetic response through high-frequency changes in heart rate with wireless electrodes. The study included 110 mothers and their children, aged between 3 and 5 years.
It was found that when mothers and children play together, they instinctively begin to respond to each other’s signals, resulting in a positive interaction that promotes healthy social-emotional development .
” In general, when mothers and children behaviorally coordinate, work together, take turns and share positive affection, the child’s physiological activity follows the mother’s physiological changes, ” explains Yannan Hu, one of the authors. of the study.
According to the study authors, with these findings parents can learn more about the importance of tuning in to their children’s signals and being receptive to their behaviors during playtime and other interactions .
The team plans to continue doing other studies to look at how coordination between mothers and babies shapes brain development during the first year of life.
Vía | Science Daily
In Babies and more | How to play with your children to stimulate their development according to their age, When mother is happy, the brain waves of her and her baby are synchronized, providing great benefits for both
