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Biomedical subjects

P T Becker

Publications and source records attributed to P T Becker.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Infant age, context, and family system influences on the interactive behavior of mothers of infants with mental delay.

Interactive behavior of 30 mothers of infants with mental delay and 30 comparison mothers and infants was examined in relation to child age (first and second year), context (feeding versus teaching), maternal characteristics (family stress, coping resources), and family social system (maternal education). Groups were compared from two perspectives: with infants matched on mental age (9 and 19 months MA), and on chronological age (8 and 18 months CA). Study mothers scored lower than comparison mothers during teaching but not during feeding in year 1 with both MA and CA match, but only with the CA match in year 2. Study infants scored lower than comparison infants in both contexts in year 1, but not in year 2. Groups did not differ on maternal or family measures. In year 1, group status, coping, and maternal education were predictive of mother interaction. In year 2, only maternal education was predictive. Results confirm the importance of type of match, context, and family system variables in understanding effects of child mental delay on maternal interactive behavior.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Cross currents.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Education, Nursing, Graduate↗
PubMed1991

Correlates of diurnal sleep patterns in infants of adolescent and adult single mothers.

Sleep behavior has been related to both child and environmental factors, but the relative importance of these factors is not yet clear. This study was an examination of the relation of diurnal sleep patterns to perinatal risk, infant temperament, home environment, parenting stress, emotional support, and social class. Twenty-three adolescent and 23 single adult mothers and infants were assessed in the home at 4 and 12 months. Percent sleep during the night was most strongly related to parenting stress and variability of night sleep to emotional support. Emotional support mediated effects of stress at 4 months. Results support the value of clinical assessment of sleep behavior.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

Neonatal measures of attention and early cognitive status.

Measures of infant attention may be more indicative of cognitive status than scores from standardized developmental tests. The purpose of this study of 56 full-term infants was to determine whether measures of attention taken from the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales (NBAS) at 2 days and the Bayley Infant Behavior Record (IBR) at 2 months would be internally consistent and would be related to developmental status at 2 months. Attention measures were internally consistent. The IBR measure was significantly related to 2-month developmental status; the NBAS measure was not. Results support attention as an important focus for nursing assessment of development.

Attention↗
PubMed1987

Sensitivity to infant development and behavior: a comparison of adolescent and adult single mothers.

The relationship of adolescent mothers' knowledge of infant development and perceptions of infant behavior to stress experienced during pregnancy were examined using a comparison group of adults of similar marital status. Relationships with maternal age across groups also were examined. Adolescents underestimated developmental rate and perceived some infant behaviors less optimally, but did not differ in levels of stress. Stress was related to several parenting subscores. Some support for a linear relationship with maternal age was found. Results suggest the need for further research to determine how level of maturity affects translation of knowledge into maternal action.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Organization of sleeping and waking states in infants: consistency across contexts.

The sleep and waking states of infants are described from direct behavioral observations made in the home for a 7-hour period on weeks 2, 3, 4, and 5. States were analyzed separately for two contexts: infant alone and infant with the mother. States analyzed included Alert, Waking (Non-Alert) Activity, Fussing or Crying, Drowse or Sleep-Wake Transition, Active Sleep, Quiet Sleep, and Unclassified Sleep. Individual state profiles for each context were obtained for each week. A quantitative measure of profile consistency over weeks was calculated as an index of stability of state organization. Infants showed considerable range in state stability over weeks. State stability when alone was significantly correlated with state stability when with the mother (r = .67), even though there were differences in sleep-wake distributions and in level of stimulation in these contexts. These findings demonstrate within-individual consistency in CNS control of behavioral states, across sleep and wakefulness and throughout the diverse activities of the caretaking environment.

Central Nervous System↗
PubMed1983

Infant crying and stability in the mother-infant relationship: a systems analysis.

Mother-infant interaction was studied using a general systems theory framework. 20 mother-infant pairs were observed in their home for a 7-hour period when the infants were 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks of age. A measurement procedure was devised to assess, for each pair, the consistency over weeks in their allocation of time to 4 interactional contexts that make up the day: feeding, changing or bathing, social attention, and baby alone. The measure was called an Interactional Stability Score. Construct validity for this measure was investigated based on our hypothesis that high interactional stability would be strongly linked to low levels of crying during social attention. This hypothesis was confirmed. The results are interpreted within a general systems theory perspective--namely, that this measure of interactional stability is an empirical indicator of the degree of equilibrium within the relationship, at the level of patterning of interactional contexts. High stability scores represent consistency in allocation of time to the 4 contexts over weeks and not a rigidity in sequencing of these contexts, and thus appeared to reflect a dynamic process of mutual constraints on the behaviors of both partners.

Child Development↗
PubMed1982

Intense rapid eye movements during active sleep: an index of neurobehavioral instability.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Storms, intense REM bursts during Active Sleep (or REM Sleep), were investigated as an expression of the neural mechanisms involved in overall control of the sleep and waking states. Twenty normal full-term infants were observed in their homes for a 7-hr period when they were 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks old. Sleep and waking states, and co-occurring behaviors of the mother, were recorded at 10-sec intervals throughout the observation day. During each 10-sec epoch of Active Sleep a rating was made of the infant's rapid eye movements, as follows: No REM, Light REMs, Moderate REMs, or intense REMs (REM Storms). REM Storm rates were related to a measure of stability in the distribution of the sleep and wake states over weeks, derived separately for time the infant was alone and for time the infant was with its mother. REM Storm rates were negatively correlated with state stability in each of these contexts. The results demonstrated a commonality between the incidence of REM Storms and overall sleep-wake state regulation.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1982

'Waking activity': the neglected state of infancy.

The significance of the waking activity state was investigated using naturalistic observations of 20 infants at 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks of age. Sleep and wake states were recorded at 10-s intervals throughout a 7-h day, along with co-occurring behaviors of the mother. The infant's behavioral state was classified as 'waking activity' when the eyes were open but unfocused, and there was diffuse motor activity. Thus the infant was not alert, drowsy, dazed, or crying. Infants showed individual consistency in amount of waking activity over weeks, although this state composed only 4.4% of the total observation. The mean amount of waking activity over weeks was related to an index of stability in state organization, as measured by the consistency of state profiles over weeks. Profile consistency was assessed by an ANOVA for each infant's data. Separate stability indexes were derived for that portion of the day when the infants were alone, and for that portion when they were with their mothers. Infants with higher levels of waking activity had lower state stability scores in each context. The results indicate that waking activity is a behavioral state which reflects overall state control and is therefore significant for an understanding of brain-behavior relationships.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Rapid eye movement storms in infants: rate of occurrence at 6 months predicts mental development at 1 year.

Intense rapid eye movements (REM) during sleep were investigated as a possible indication of delay in the neurodevelopment of infants. The rate of occurrence of REM storms was determined by monitoring the sleep of 15 normal, first-born infants during weeks 2 through 5 and at 3, 6, 12 months. The amount of REM within each 10-second interval of active sleep was rated on a four-point scale based on frequency and intensity of eye movements. When the babies were 12 months old, the Bayley Scales of Mental Development were administered. A significant negative correlation was found between the frequency of REM storms of 14 subjects was also studied. The negative correlation was confirmed. The findings support the suggestion that by 6 months of age REM storms express dysfunction or delay in the development of central inhibitory feedback controls for sleep organization and phasic sleep-related activities.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1979

The zeta sedimentation ration (ZSR) as the routine monitor of disease activity in a general hospital.

Nine hundred eighty-one requests for sedimentation rates in a clinical laboratory were received and the zeta sedimentation ratio (ZSR) test was performed. The results were correlated with the patients' diagnoses and disease activity. This test was found to be a useful monitor of disease activity in a clinical setting. Substitution of the ZSR for the standard erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) appears to be acceptable. The test is simple, rapidly performed, and reproducible.

Blood Sedimentation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Outcomes of developmentally supportive nursing care for very low birth weight infants.

Numerous aspects of the intensive care environment are stressful for low birth weight infants and may play a role in adverse developmental and behavioral outcome. The purpose of this study was to determine whether staff education in care protocols designed to make the environment less stressful and thereby support the infant's development would improve short-term outcomes. Twenty-one infants (less than 1,501 gms) were studied during the preeducation period and 24 infants were studied following staff education. The educational program successfully altered nursing care. Experimental infants had more optimal respiratory and feeding status, lower levels of morbidity, shorter hospitalization, and improved behavioral organization.

Analysis of Variance↗