It's Daddy's Turn! Development of Turn-Taking in Infant-Father Interactions and Associations With Paternal Mentalizing and Involvement

Abstract

Turn-taking, the coordinated exchange of communicative signals between infants and caregivers, is vital for child communicative development. While it is considered a human universal, most research has focused on mother-infant dyads. Given fathers' increasing caregiving involvement, understanding their contribution to early communication is essential. Thus, we have examined early infant-father turn-taking and the role of fathers' mentalizing abilities, which may support turn prediction, and paternal involvement, as it may shape the frequency and quality of exchanges. We observed 39 father-infant dyads in natural interactions at 7 weeks and 6 months postpartum. Vocalizations were micro-coded and turn-taking was defined as a vocal response by one partner within 3000 ms of the other's vocalization. Mentalizing was measured via the Reflective Functioning Scale of the Parent Development Interview, while involvement was indexed by weeks of paternity leave. Results showed little change in turn-taking over time, except for a slight decline in infant turns and increase in paternal overlaps. Mixed effect models revealed significant between-dyad variability; higher mentalizing was associated with fewer paternal overlaps, and greater involvement was linked to shorter overlap durations. Findings suggest that infants are active turn-takers from early on and paternal mentalizing may support attuned coordination. Despite a relatively homogenous sample, results underscore fathers' importance in early communicative development.