No Consistent Evidence for Family Concordance in Eye‐Tracking‐Based Assessment of Face Engagement – A Finnbrain Birth Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

Most infants look longer at pictures of faces compared to non‐faces. This visual behavior, referred to as face engagement, may play an important role in early social‐emotional development. Previous research suggests that genetic and environmental factors influence attention to social stimuli, but whether face engagement is shared within families remains unclear. This cross‐sectional study examined the concordance in face engagement between both parents and their 5‐year‐old children using an eye‐tracking paradigm, while exploring the quality of mother‐child interaction as a potential mediating factor for concordance. Eye tracking was used to measure attention to various faces and non‐social patterns in both adults and children in the Finnbrain birth cohort ( N  = 612), and mother‐child interaction was assessed using the Emotional Availability Scales during a free‐play session. Using a structural equation modeling approach, we found a common face engagement factor in mothers, fathers, and children, suggesting a similar tendency to engage with faces regardless of facial expression across groups. However, there was no evidence of consistent within‐family concordance in face engagement, nor a mediating effect of mother‐child interaction in the relationship between mothers' and children's face engagement. These findings indicate that, while face engagement appeared comparable across development, family‐level shared variability in this tendency may be limited or difficult to detect under the present methodological conditions.