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5. 7 Introduction

Given that the BabyTalk intervention was given at a time shown to be most influential in right hemisphere associated non-verbal behaviour, examining this aspect o f the children's functioning is o f great interest. Given that in the London Parent Child Project sample showed associations between their "non-verbal behaviour" and different styles o f parent-child interaction, it is hoped that we might begin to think about the processes operating in any differences that might be detected between the control and experimental BabyTalk group.

METHOD.

The Sample

The subjects for this investigation are, o f course, the M anchester based BabyTalk sample. (Full details about this group are found in Chapters 1 and 4). The children

were selected in the context o f routine health screening at 9 months o f age using an assessment o f language delay. Children were divided into control or experimental groups matched by severity and type o f delay, general development and social and economic background. The BabyTalk experimental programme infants and mothers received four visits from Speech and Language therapists guiding them in the principles o f the intervention (see Chapter 1).

These data used in this chapter is entirely from the 11-year follow-up collected by the author and her assistant, Sarah Potter. Forty-five children from the original study were traced o f which 21 were experimental group children and 24 were controls. O f these 22 boys and 23 girls, the mean age was 10 years, 10 months (s.d. = 4.28 months) range = 9 years, 11 months - 11 years, 7 months. Males and females were evenly spread between the control and experimental group, the former having 12 males and 12 females, and the latter, 10 males and 11 females. Where the earlier data was available, the control and experimental groups were reasonably matched for severity o f delay as assessed at 9 months. The experimental group contained 10 group one and 4 group two children. The control group contained 14 group one and 3 group two children.

Analysis in Chapter 2 indicated that the current sample is not representative o f the earlier follow-up samples. Although at the 3 year and 7 year follow ups the experimental groups were found to display significantly enhanced language and cognitive functioning, these data from the current sample for those time periods do not show the same patterns o f significant differences.

Measures

Non-verbal behaviour - NEBS.

As in the previous section, under examination are the children's "non-verbal" responses as assessed by the NEBS. As with the LPCP sample, responses recorded on video-tape to the F&F interview are under assessment. These were collected in the context o f a school visit. The tapes were coded by Dara Faden, who was blind to the experimental status of the children. High inter-rater reliability was established with

the author. (Reliability analysis using Cronbach's Alpha for the subscales = median = .91, min = .75, max = .95). Given that the direction o f change was anticipated, the use o f one-tailed tests o f significance was deemed appropriate. The descriptives for the measure used with this sample are reported below (n = 45):

T able 5.9: Descriptive statistics for the NEBS coding with the BabyTalk sample.

Mean S.d. Min Max Skewness Kurtosis

Vocal Expression Z88 0.77 1.00 4.00 -.108 -.613

Facial Expression Z84 &88 1.00 4.00 -.106 -.928

Body Orientation 3.09 0.87 1.00 4.00 -jW8 .196 Negative Affect 2.02 0.81 1.00 3.00 -.041 -1.474 Positive Affect 2.71 1.01 1.00 4.00 -.062 -1.173 Distress / fear 1.64 0.71 1.00 3.00 .647 -.751 Frustration 1.13 0.40 1.00 3.00 3.239 10.803 Confidence 2.67 0.93 1.00 4.00 -.158 -.771 Avoidance 1.64 0.68 1.00 3.00 J 8 3 -.672 Attention 3.31 0.76 1.00 4.00 -.924 .480 Reaction when distressed 0.53 0.50 .00 1.00 -.138 -1.983 Nonverbal overall. 1.08 0.37 .67 2.33 .841 1.331

Only 'Frustration' frustratingly does not meet the criteria o f normality according to the statistics o f kurtosis and skewness. Fortunately the recomputed variable which includes this measure, 'nonverbal overall,' does meet the criteria o f normality for conducting t-tests.

RESULTS.

The mean non-verbal behaviour scores for the experimental BabyTalk and control group were examined for significant differences existing between them.

T able 5.10: Comparative non-verbal behaviour (NEBS scores) for BabyTalk (experimental) or control status children at 11 years o f age.

Experimental Mean (s.d.) n=21 Control Mean (s.d.) n=24 t-value Sig. (1- tailed) Vocal expression 2.90 (.62) 2.88 (.89) .130 .448 Facial expression 2.81 (.75) 2.88 (.99) -.252 .401 Body orientation 3.00 (.654) 3.17(1.05) .654 2 ^ 8 Negative affect 1.81 (.81) 2.21 (.78) -1.678 .050 Positive affect 2.67 (.80) 2.75 (1.19) -.279 0.39

Distress and fear 1.57 (.67) 1.71 (.75) -.639 0.263

Frustration 1.00 (.00) L25C 53) -.304 0.016 Confidence 2.81 (.87) 2.54 (.98) .964 .170 Avoidance 1.57 (.68) 1.70 (.69) -.670 Attention 3.33 (.66) 3.29 (.70) .181 .429 Reaction to distress .71 (.46) .37 (.29) 2.365 .023 Nonverbal overall .95 (.:28) 1.19 (.40) -2.291 .027

This table clearly shows statistically significant differences exist between the control and experimental group for two o f the NEBS. As was the case with the secure children from the LPCP sample, the experimental group (mean= 1.00, s.d.=0) show levels o f frustration lower than the controls (mean = 1.25, s.d. = 0.53 ) at the p<.05 level. In this case the BabyTalk group were rated without exception as displaying level 1 (no frustration), while the some o f the control group children did show some frustration.

The important measure o f 'nonverbal overall', which in the LPCP sample was associated with earlier attachment history, showed significant differences between the control and experimental group. The experimental group have a lower mean score, associated with less intense displays o f negative affect and adaptive responses to distress (t = -2.29, p = .027).

The BabyTalk experimental group also differed from the control group in terms o f the general level o f negative affect that they displayed. The BabyTalk group mean (mean = 1.80, s.d. = .81) for negative affect was significantly lower than that o f control group (mean = 2.21, s.d.= .78) at the p<.05 level. Negative affect was not significantly correlated in the LPCP study with earlier attachment security in the strange situation, but the correlation co-efficient did approach significance. In the general literature negative affect display is associated with earlier attachment history and with right hemisphere activity.

In the LPCP study, the scale Distress/Fear was associated with earlier Strange Situation attachment security. There was not a significant difference between the control and experimental group on this scale for the BabyTalk group. Although the mean for the experimental group (mean = 1.57, s.d. = .68) was lower than that for the control group (mean = 1.71, s.d. = .75), the probability that these results would emerge from the same population was p = 0.263, missing significance at the p<.05 level.

T able 5.11 : Comparative non-verbal behaviour (NEBS scores) for BabyTalk group 1 and group 2 experimental group children at 11 years o f age. [Please refer to Appendix X] Group 1 Mean (s.d.) n=10 Group 2 Mean (s.d.) n=4 t-value Sig. (1- tailed) Vocal expression 2.90 (.74) 2.75 (.50) .370 .359 Facial expression 2.70 (.82) 3.00 (.82) -.617 .275 Body orientation 3.00 (.82) 3.00 (.00) .000 1.000 Negative affect 1.70 (.82) 1.75 (.96) -.098 .461 Positive affect 2.60 (.97) 2.75 (.50) -.290 3 8 8

Distress and fear 1.40 (.52) 1.50 (.58) -.318 3 78

Frustration 1.00 (.00) 1.00 (.00) Confidence 3.20 (.92) 2.25 (.50) 2.478 .016 Avoidance 1.50 (.71) 1.25 (.50) .639 .068 Attention 3.75 (.50) 3.10 (.74) 1.601 .083 Reaction to distress 0.60 (.52) 0.75 (.50) -.495 .315 Nonverbal overall 0.93 (.31) 0.92 (.32) .091 .465

In examining outcome for children's IQ and achievement scores, interesting findings emerged from examining children who had slightly different interventions associated with their specific difficulties. Group 1 children had not only the expressive and receptive language difficulties shared with group 2, but additional difficulties with listening. These children in group 1 had an intervention which was even more directive o f parents to change the learning environment by spending time one-to-one and face to face with the child in a quiet and rewarding environment. In this analysis, with only a very small number o f cases for the analysis undertaken, differences are mostly not significant - any form o f the BabyTalk intervention seems to have been effective in eliciting change in displays o f negative affect, and reactions to distress. There is a difference, however, in children's body language o f displaying confidence, with children from group I being significantly more confident ( t = 2.48, p = .016). It is a fascinating concept that interacting differently and in closer proximity with their

young children may have made children more confident a decade later. Given the small sample, however, caution in drawing conclusion is required. Similarly we must be cautious but interested by the finding that attention seems to be improved by the special components o f the group 1 intervention.' This measure misses significance but analysis indicates a trend towards such a difference (t = 1.60, p = .083).

SUMMARY.

It is most interesting that those aspects o f "non-verbal" behaviour displayed by 11- year-olds when discussing their important relationships which are associated with security at 12 months, are aspects o f negative emotional expression, particularly frustration. It is also the case that the aspects o f "non-verbal" behaviour which differentiate those children who undertook the BabyTalk intervention are aspects o f negative emotional expression, particularly frustration. A computed measure, which combined two negative affect scores, and the way that children react when they are distressed, 'nonverbal overall', was associated in the LPCP with earlier SS security and also differentiated those children who had had the BabyTalk intervention from those who had not.

DISCUSSION.

This chapter has raised a large number o f matters for discussion o f both theoretical and practical significance. It has also raised a number o f issues worthy o f further enquiry. On a practical level, the non-verbal and emotional behaviour scale (NEBS) has been shown in application to the LPCP sample to be a useful tool with which to explore aspects o f "non-verbal" emotional expression. There is good evidence that non-verbal social cues are not 'noise' in the process o f interaction, but perhaps as Tomkins (e.g. 1962) has theorised, these are the most important keys for decoding affective life.

Recent studies under the umbrella o f neurobiology have suggested that there are associations between right hemisphere capacities, which include the regulation o f emotional expression, and maternal and attachment behaviours. Associations

between type and intensity o f emotional expression and attachment strategies have been identified in the attachment literature. The current study supports the position that aspects of non-verbal behaviour offer a window onto earlier attachment history 5.8 Considering important aspects o f nonverbal emotional expression.

Negative Emotion

In the literature, the differences between secure and insecure children were most consistently reported in terms o f differences in the expression o f negative emotion. This finding was replicated in the current study, where insecure children displayed more frequent and intense displays o f distress/tear emotion, and behaviours associated with frustration. In terms o f general attachment theorising it may be that viewing the association between negative emotion and insecurity in this way obscures the complexity o f the relationship between these variables. It is likely that in some cases, security allows individuals the confidence to express more negative emotion, while insecure children would feel compelled to withhold it. However, it seems that in the context o f the F&F interview, insecurely attached children displayed significantly higher levels o f negative emotion than children who were securely attached in the SS at 12 months. Displays of negative affect when considered together with children’s reaction to distress provided a powerful association with earlier mother-child interaction.

Vocal expression and intonation

Not all o f the NEBS were associated with earlier attachment status in the current study. Vocal expression, which was included as aspects o f intonation and vocal range are associated with right hemisphere development, was not related to the SS at 12 months. Both this measure, and that o f general 'emotional expressiveness' were perhaps rather too crudely defined in the NEBS measure. Their investigation using more subtle measures may well have afforded significant results. Aspects o f vocal expression seem especially worthy of exploring in further detail and much variation was revealed within the sample. This endeavour is very pertinent as it has the

capacity to clearly associate these differences between groups with right hemisphere processes.

Positive Emotion

Levels o f positive emotional expression were not associated with earlier attachment status in the current study. This is perhaps not surprising, given that children's abilities to 'fake' appropriate positive emotional display is more advanced than their capacity to 'fake' negative emotional display (Saami, 1987). It is also the case that while there may be a link between display o f positive emotion and earlier attachment history, that it is a complex association. Whereas insecurity is associated in a linear fashion with higher levels o f negative emotional display, it may be associated with either lack o f positive emotional display (typically associated with insecure avoidance) or socially inappropriate excessive displays o f positive emotion (associated with insecure resistance) (e.g. Cassidy, 1994). Insecure disorganised infants may show all manner o f strategies with positive emotional displays. Hence, while the associations between attachment and positive emotional display may be more complex, further studies examining the pathways o f influence on positive emotional display are likely to be both fascinating and revealing o f the processes in operation.

Confidence

The children's outward displays o f confidence were not associated with their earlier attachment history, although there was evidence o f a non-significant association between confidence and participation in the BabyTalk intervention for the Manchester sample. This was particularly apparent in those children who had the group 1 version o f the intervention. This finding is interesting in its own right, and it is exciting to think that participation in the BabyTalk intervention made the children more confident in talking about themselves and their important relationships.

Avoidance

Outward displays o f avoidance behaviour were not significantly associated with earlier attachment history for the LPCP sample. The correlation between avoidance and the SS with mother at 12 months did however only just miss significance, and it is possible to speculate that in a setting that was more likely to induce avoidance strategies, or with a more sensitive measure, that clearer significant associations might have emerged.

Attention

It was hypothesised that capacities for attention might have differentiated those children earlier identified as secure or insecure. Attention is associated with right hemisphere development, and has been offered as one vehicle for explaining the effect o f earlier attachment security on later academic and social functioning. The ability to keep attention focused on the task at hand has been identified by educators as one o f the most critical aspects in children’s learning, and attempts to increase children’s attention span have been the focus o f many intervention efforts. In fact neither earlier security nor participation in the BabyTalk intervention was associated with attention. Perhaps the task was o f too short duration to effectively assess children’s capacity to stay on task. Significantly, however, both earlier secure attachment and participation in the BabyTalk intervention was associated with lower outward displays o f frustration. The link between levels o f frustration and potential difficulties with attention in longer and more demanding tasks is not hard to imagine. Not only is frustration likely to relate to attention differences between these groups, it is also likely to be associated with other aspects o f right hemisphere-associated emotion regulation. Poor emotion regulation and frustration could relate to difficulties in social interaction and peer relationships as well as academic differences. Frustration’s role in the host o f difficulties associated with insecurity, and in the difficulties displayed by children who did not received the BabyTalk intervention, is certainly worthy o f further consideration.

5.7 The BabyTalk sample

In term o f the findings from the data from the Manchester BabyTalk sample, it is clear that the intervention has elicited some changes in some right hemisphere associated non-verbal behaviour o f those children who received the intervention. Significant differences were found in terms o f the negative emotion displayed by the BabyTalk experimental and control groups, as well as their outwardly-displayed levels o f frustration. The influence on the right hemisphere development might even explain the group's enhanced mathematics functioning seen in Chapter 2.

Although for the LPCP it was distress/fear rather than general negative emotion that was associated with attachment security / insecurity, it seems that a similar process is operating in both o f these groups. The computed measure 'non-verbal overall' was strongly associated in the LPCP with earlier attachment security, and in the M anchester sample, with BabyTalk experimental status. Thus the patterns o f change on "non-verbal behaviour" for those children who received the BabyTalk intervention, echoes the pattern displayed by children classified as securely attached to their mothers in the SS at 12 months. These changes are in behaviours associated with the right hemisphere thought to develop predominately between 1 and 3 years o f age - the period when the BabyTalk intervention was delivered and the IWMs or 'templates' of attachment are thought to be formed. While we can only talk at the level of speculation, it seems that the BabyTalk intervention may be influencing aspects of right hemisphere development that are common to, or in some cases referred to as, attachment behaviours.

5.8 Verbal and non-verbal attachment security?

In Chapter 3 the idea began to emerge that verbal and non-verbal aspects of attachment might be better considered as inter-related but separate. The verbal style o f the LPCP children discussing the attachment related issues in the F&F interview was more closely associated with the Mother's AAI conducted before their birth, than their SS security with their mother. The idea was raised that it is perhaps more likely that the mother's verbal interactive style has an ongoing influence on their children's

verbal style that is o f more significance than the early non-verbal interactive behaviour displayed in the SS. It was questioned whether perhaps that non-verbal interactive style is also o f long term influence, but on related but different and equally important aspects o f non-verbal functioning.

This chapter set out to explore that idea o f the separateness o f verbal and non-verbal interaction's early influence, inspired also by findings from neurobiology, and indeed lends significant support to such an understanding. The "non-verbal behaviour" of the LPCP sample was significantly associated with the SS behaviour o f the child at 12 months, but not the mother's AAI. Further, despite the close association between the mother's AAI and child SS with mother, adding two aspects o f "non-verbal behaviour", distress/fear and reaction when distressed to mother's AAI made a model significantly better at predicting SS at 12 months than mother's AAI alone. Relationships with father's AAI and SS with father were not explored, since the BabyTalk intervention involved only mothers, however it would be most interesting to explore whether any relationships exist. In terms o f the M anchester BabyTalk sample, a difference in "non-verbal behaviour" emerged which we can hypothesis would have been reflected in their SS attachment security had it been assessed. Although the BabyTalk was not associated with changes in the coherence o f the children's narrative, which is associated with the mother's own coherence o f narrative, children may have been influenced by the mother's non-verbal interactive style,