Braços que guiam: Interações mãe/pai-criança em Aulas de Natação Infantil.

Abstract

Parental sensitivity is characterized by the caregiver's ability to provide contingent responses to the child's signals, to repair mismatches in a timely manner, and to offer warm and attuned responses to the child's needs, thereby promoting secure attachments, as predicted by Attachment Theory. In view of these references, the study main objective is to understand and characterize the interactions between mothers/fathers and their children in a context that has been little studied: infant swimming lessons. Therefore, the study uses a qualitative, exploratory methodology, developed in a natural context. Nine dyads participated, including six mothers and three fathers, and their children, aged 19 to 39 months, who were attending aquatic adaptation classes. Data collection was based on video recordings, which were later analyzed using the MINDS (Mother-Infant Descriptive Dyadic System) dyadic involvement scale and the Coherent and Incoherent Intermodal Interactive Behaviors coding system. The results revealed that warmer, more sensitive, and responsive caregivers tend to have more confident, cooperative, and autonomous children, demonstrating high-quality and sensitive dyadic interactions. In these dyads, greater coherence in the children's intermodal communicative behaviors was also observed. On the other hand, in less responsive, sensitive, and less supportive interactions, children were found to have difficulties with emotional adjustment and regulation, as well as incoherent intermodal communicative behaviors. Despite the study's limitations, it offers a relevant contribution to the understanding mother/father-child interactions, highlighting the importance of promoting sensitive and responsive relationships within families for the establishment of secure attachment.