The Active Infant's Developing Role in Musical Interactions: Insights From an Online Parent Questionnaire

Musical interactions between caregivers and their infants typically rely on a limited repertoire of live vocal songs and recorded music. Research suggests that these well-known songs are especially effective at eliciting engaged behaviors from infants in controlled settings, but how infants respond to familiar music with their caregivers in their everyday environment remains unclear. The current study used an online questionnaire to quantify how often and why caregivers present certain songs and musical recordings to their infants. Using a cross-sectional approach, we explored infants' changing behavioral profiles to music from birth to 24 months. Caregivers additionally reported on their feelings of affective attachment toward their infants. Results reveal that caregivers sing and play recorded music for younger and older infants at comparably high rates. In turn, infants actively respond to their favorite songs and recordings by demonstrating positive emotions, movements, and attentive listening. Caregivers mainly consider their infants' musical preferences when building their shared musical repertoire at home. Both caregivers' engagement in musical activities with their children and infants' enthusiastic responsiveness to singing predicted stronger dyadic attachment bonding. Caregivers and infants jointly contribute to building musical relationships, and these musical relationships may be intertwined with their emerging social-emotional bonds.