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PubMed1976

Twins: within-pair similarity on Bayley's Infant Behavior Record.

Summary scores for behaviors rated on Bayley's Infant Behavior Record were obtained by summing sequential ratings for same-sex twins participating in a longitudinal study. The first year scores were based on visits made at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, by 55 identical and 27 fraternal pairs; the second year scores were based on visits at 18, 24, and 30 months, by 47 identical and 27 fraternal pairs. During the first year, within-pair correlations for almost all behaviors were stronger for identical than for fraternal pairs; in the second year, within-pair correlations for identical twins were similar to those of fraternal twins except for the more cognitive behaviors. Composite scores were calculated for two behavioral clusters--one composed of behaviors related to Primary Cognition, and the other composed of behaviors related to Extraversion. Within-pair correlations were higher for identical than for fraternal twins in both the first and second years, indicating stronger and more consistent genetic influences on the more cognitive behaviors.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Perinatal bupivacaine and infant behavior in rhesus monkeys.

To assess the effect of perinatal epidural bupivacaine analgesia on infant behavioral development, bupivacaine (1.2 mg/kg) was administered to term-pregnant rhesus monkeys (treated, n = 11, procedural controls, n = 8) and infant behavior was evaluated for 1 year using a test battery including infant neurobehavioral tests, observation of spontaneous behavior, and structured cognitive testing. No adverse effects of bupivacaine were detected for neonatal neurobehavior, early cognitive abilities, or performance of cognitive tasks by older infants. Bupivacaine infants directed more, shorter fixations at visual stimuli during visual novelty preference testing. Observation of behavior maturation patterns showed that the increase in manipulatory activity that normally occurs at 2 months of age was delayed in bupivacaine infants, and the increase in motor disturbance behaviors that normally occurs at 10 months of age was prolonged. These results are interpreted in terms of life-history and brain maturation landmarks that appear at these ages. The data suggest that epidural bupivacaine does not cause neonatal abnormalities or specific cognitive deficits but can alter the normal course of behavioral development.

Analgesia, Epidural↗
PubMed1993

Early hospitalization and disturbances of infant behavior and the mother-infant relationship.

The impact of brief early hospitalization was investigated in a controlled natural experiment of 14 children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) who were hospitalized for palatal repair at 9.5 months of age, and another 13 CLP children who were hospitalized at 12.5 months of age; 14 children without clefts who were not hospitalized served as controls. After hospitalization children were more likely to avoid their mothers both following a brief stressful separation at home and in the Strange Situation. It was suggested that CLP children may have learned to cope with stress by shifting the attention away from the mother.

Child, Hospitalized↗
PubMedDate not supplied

In utero exposure to terbutaline: effects on infant behavior and maternal self-esteem.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about correlates of infant behavior after tocolytic intervention. This study investigated three related questions: (a) Are there any behavioral differences in infants exposed in utero to terbutaline and infants not exposed? (b) Is the mother's perception of her infant influenced by group status? (c) Is maternal self-esteem influenced by group status? DESIGN: Group comparison over time of infants exposed in utero to terbutaline and infants not exposed. Group mean cluster scores and recovery curves were compared. Mothers' responses to a series of questionnaires were compared according to group status. The first author remained blind to group status until all measures were completed on all participants. SETTING: Recruitment and first administration of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale occurred in two regional hospitals, at Minneapolis and St. Paul. Subsequent administrations took place in the infants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-eight healthy, full-term (> or = 37 weeks gestational age) neonates and their mothers, 16 of whom had been given terbutaline, and 32 control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale was administered three times to each neonate. Mothers completed the Infant Characteristics Questionnaires, the Neonatal Perception Inventories, and the Maternal Self-Report Inventory. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between the two groups of infants on the habituation cluster at Time 1 and the autonomic stability cluster at Time 1 and Time 2. No significant group differences were found in the mothers' responses to the questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses can assure parents that neonates exposed to terbutaline, although they may exhibit initial difficulties with behavioral organization, recover well over the course of the neonatal period. In addition, nurses can help mothers discover methods that will help calm their newborns.

Female↗
PubMed1993

Adding objectivity to infant behavioral audiometry.

This article deals with the limitations of infant behavioral audiometry, which have led us to seek objective methods of audiometry for determining hearing sensitivity in infants. It describes efforts to add objectivity to (or reduce the subjectivity of) behavioral methods of infant audiometry. Several aspects of visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA), including the head turn response, the use of control trials, and adherence to the principles of operant conditioning, serve to reduce the subjectivity inherent in behavior observation audiometry. In addition, computer control of VRA procedures can relieve the examiner of potentially subjective decision-making during the course of evaluation and can facilitate testing with sophisticated algorithms that could not be done manually by a single examiner. Computer simulations to determine the best VRA test parameters are described.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1992

Adult third ventricle width and infant behavioral arousal in groups at high and low risk for schizophrenia.

Previous research has demonstrated: (1) Subjects who are at genetic high risk for schizophrenia and who suffer delivery complications are at increased risk to evidence a widened third ventricle. (2) A widened third ventricle is related to decreased ANS arousal and, among schizophrenics, is related to negative symptom schizophrenia. (3) Adult schizophrenics evidence behavioral analogues of negative symptom schizophrenia premorbidly. This study compared adult CT scans to ratings of infant behavior in 179 subjects (104 at high genetic risk for schizophrenia) with the hypothesis that widened third ventricles would be related to underaroused infant behavior. Results of an ANOVA suggest that subjects who are at genetic high risk for schizophrenia and who evidence a widened third ventricle are more likely to have shown signs of behavioral underarousal as infants. Possible explanations, implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Nutrients, neurotransmitters and infant behavior.

In recent years, short-term effects of the composition of each meal on the synthesis of brain neurotransmitters have been studied. This paper reviews studies of the influence of dietary precursors such as tryptophan and other competing amino acids on serotonin synthesis and metabolism and emphasizes the important influence of insulin. The paper then focuses on assessment of newborn state behavior, since evidence in adult humans has suggested a relationship between sleep behavior and brain serotonin levels. Several studies are then summarized. First, a study of healthy full-term newborns examining the relationship between diet and sleep behavior showed that infants fed tryptophan entered active and quiet sleep sooner than infants fed valine and low carbohydrate. Other studies designed to examine the influence of hyperinsulinemia on this system are then described. An observational study of newborns of diabetic mothers during the first weeks of life showed that they were quieter babies, with difficulties in visual orientation and motor performance. Plasma amino acid ratios studied during a glucagon-stimulation test in an infant with hyperinsulinemia showed a marked increase in parallel with changes in insulin levels. The results suggest that infant sleep behavior can be a sensitive dependent variable in studies of behavioral effects of diet and suggests that variations in serotonin levels may play a modulating role.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

A longitudinal study of offspring born to methadone-maintained women. II. Dyadic interaction and infant behavior at 4 months.

As part of a longitudinal study of offspring born to substance abusers, we assessed 17 methadone-exposed and 23 comparison 4-month-old infants using the Bayley Scales, and videotaped their interaction with their mothers. In analyzing the Bayley Infant Behavior Record we found that the methadone-exposed group differed from the comparison group on motor functioning but not significantly on social or cognitive behaviors; methadone-exposed infants were more tense, active, and poorly coordinated than comparisons. Using a scale we developed, we rated communicative functioning in dyadic interactions, and related mothers' interactive performance to their psychological and psychosocial resources and infants' interactive performance to their behavioral functioning as assessed on the Bayley Infant Behavior Record. Applying a multidimensional technique, Guttman's Partial Order Scalogram Analysis by Coordinates (POSAC), we found an intriguing relationship that generalized across drug and comparison groups: greater tension than activity, with high tension especially, related to poorer functioning, but tension lower than activity related to better functioning. Specifically, infants who were tense and not active were also poorest on social functioning (low responsiveness to people and low cooperativeness) and showed short attention span and low persistence combined with high interest in sights and sounds. On the other hand, infants who showed low-to-moderate tension and moderate-to-high activity were highly responsive and cooperative; some also had long attention span and high persistence coupled with interest in sights and sounds. Infants who were both very tense and very active were poor on social functioning. Furthermore, most infants with tension higher than activity did poorly in communicating with their mothers, while infants with tension lower than activity interacted well. The POSAC technique has enabled us to identify meaningful subgroups of infants who were not merely quantitatively but qualitatively different in their behavioral functioning. Cutting across drug and comparison groups, we found that mothers who performed poorly on interaction were likely to have poor resources for maternal functioning. Methadone was only one among the risk factors affecting interaction.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1995

The effect of pain on infant behaviors.

Facial, body, and cry behaviors, heart rate, palmar sweating, and acoustic cry measures were compared across differing levels of infant pain. Eighty-eight infants were placed in a 16-cell matrix of 4 ages (0 to 3 mo., 4 to 6 mo., 7 to 9 mo., and 10 to 12 mo.) and levels of pain (LOP) (none, mild, moderate, severe) with 5 to 6 infants occupying each cell. Matrix placement was determined by agreement of > 75% among five pediatric clinical nurse specialists who viewed videotapes and read information about the infant's history, diagnosis, medical and/or surgical status, medications, and nutritional/fluid status. Coded infant behaviors and acoustic cry parameters were compared using a 2-level (LOP, age) MANOVA. Behaviors that differed across LOP were influenced by infant development. Facial expressions were clinically useful LOP indicators only for 0- to 3-month-old infants. Facial and body behaviors and cry measures that differed across LOP in younger infants did not differ in older infants due to the development of intentionality. Cry orientation and consolability may be useful clinical indicators of pain with older infants.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1984

Methodologic standards for controlled clinical trials of early contact and maternal-infant behavior.

To provide an objective evaluation of published studies on the effect of early contact on subsequent maternal-infant behavior, a set of 11 methodologic standards generally applicable to controlled clinical trials of perinatal care was developed. Sixteen reports of early contact trials were assessed and seven of the 11 standards were found to be satisfactorily fulfilled. The four "problem" standards were: adequate definition of subjects, randomization, subject bias, and treatment contamination (care giver) bias. Of the five best trials fulfilling eight or more of the standards, three reported a beneficial effect of early contact, while two demonstrated no effect. The evidence that early contact improves subsequent maternal-infant behavior thus remains inconclusive. It is urged that for future research in this domain more attention be given to adequate subject definition, strict randomization procedures, and safeguards against bias by the subjects or their care givers.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1997

Diet and infant behavior.

We studied 142 preterm infants (mean gestation 31 weeks, mean birthweight 1364 g) fed prospectively varied protein and energy intakes. Infants were grouped as either slow or rapid growers based on rate of weight gain. Rapid growers had increased heart rates (166 vs 160 beats/min), respiratory rates (55.7 vs 53.9 bpm), energy expenditure (64.8 vs 61.6 kcal kg(-1) day(-1)), urinary C-peptide levels (1.59 vs 0.79 ng ml(-1)) and time in active sleep (78.0 vs 75.2%), and decreased spectral edge frequency in the electroencephalogram (2.96 vs 4.45 Hz) compared to slow growers. We conclude that preterm infants growing at varying rates manifest physiological and behavioral differences, and that these patterns may reflect altered autonomic balance.

Diet↗
PubMed1999

Intraindividual variability in infant behavior.

Longitudinal observational data of infant crying, fretting/fussing, and smiling and the time spent in physical contact with the mother were used in a study on behavioral variability. The infants were followed weekly for a 15-month period. Evidence was found of an important intraindividual variability in the studied behaviors, specifically between the ages of 0 and 5 months, 5 and 10 months, but not between 10 and 15 months. Results are discussed and analyzed in the light of earlier literature. The possible functions and the factors underlying variability in development as well as its methodological implications are discussed.

Crying↗
PubMed1996

Differential maternal treatment of infant twins: effects of infant behaviors.

This project utilized twins to study differential mother-sibling interactions. The use of twins circumvented the traditional confounds of studying siblings of different ages or at two points in time. When the twins were 7 and 9 months of age, mothers spent 2.5 min alone with each infant in an attempt to elicit child vocalizations. The mother and infant behaviors were coded both microanalytically and globally. The infant attention behaviors were influenced primarily by unique environment, whereas the temperament behaviors were influenced by both unique environmental and genetic effects. Mothers tended to treat both children similarly, regardless of zygosity, suggesting that maternal characteristics drove the mother-infant interactions. Thus, even though identical twins were more similar on some measures than fraternal twins, mothers tended to treat both types of twins comparably regardless of infant characteristics or behaviors.

Female↗
PubMed1984

Phenobarbital prophylaxis for hyperbilirubinemia in preterm infants. A controlled study of bilirubin disappearance and infant behavior.

Phenobarbital (PB) has been used at several pediatric centers for prophylaxis against neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. However, few attempts have been made to evaluate this procedure quantitatively, and a variety of dose schedules has been proposed. Therefore, a randomized, controlled clinical trial was performed in which the effects on bilirubin disposition and on neonatal behavior was quantitated. Forty-three preterm infants were randomized into one of four dose groups and given 0, 4, 8, or 12 mg of PB per kg in a single dose within the first few hours after birth (mean 2.2 h). The total serum bilirubin disappearance rate was found to be significantly increased (p less than 0.01) only in the 12 mg/kg group. This effect was not evident until postnatal day 7. The 4 and 8 mg/kg groups were not significantly different from the control group at any time. Infant behavior was monitored by a non-invasive time-lapse filming technique. The time spent in quiet sleep was found to be proportional to the plasma PB concentration at one day of age (r = 0.61). The infants in the 12 mg group spent a larger proportion of time in quiet sleep than the other groups (p less than 0.05). The plasma half-lives, plasma clearances and volumes of distribution of PB were similar in the three dose groups. No correlation was found between the pharmacokinetics and the gestational age of the infant. It is concluded that in order to enhance the bilirubin disappearance rate, PB has to be administered in doses that will affect behavior.

Bilirubin↗
PubMed1980

Bayley's infant behavior record: behavioral components and twin analyses.

Factor analysis of 25 rating scales from Bayley's infant behavior record were performed for a sample of about 300-400 infant twins tested at 1 or more of the following ages: 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. The analysis provided 5 major factors and 2 minor factors that were considerably consistent at all ages. As defined by the scales with the strongest loadings, the major factors were denoted as task orientation, affect-extraversion, activity, auditory-visual awareness, and motor coordination, and the minor factors were denoted as kinds of mouthing behaviors. Further analyses by twin pairs generally provided higher concordance for identical pairs than for same-sex fraternal pairs, and the differences in concordance became more evident with an increase in age. Among the factors, task orientation showed the most persistent differences between identical and fraternal pairs. Profile analyses for all factors extracted at each age indicated that the profiles within identical pairs were more similar than profiles within fraternal pairs. Overall, the findings delineate some of the dimensions of temperament observed during testing and suggest that there are genetic influences on several behavioral characteristics and the organization of those characteristics during infancy.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1986

Infant behavior and development in relation to fetal movement and habituation.

Fetal movement and habituation were examined in relation to behavior and development in early infancy. 39 fetuses were evaluated between 28 and 37 weeks gestation. A vibrating stimulus was repeatedly applied to the maternal abdomen until the fetus habituated (i.e., ceased moving in response). Fetal movements were observed on an ultrasound monitor by 2 observers who recorded their observations onto a strip chart. Using a median split, fetuses were placed into high- or low-movement groups and fast- or slow-habituating groups. The groups were compared after birth on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Preliminary evidence is presented that fetal rate of habituation predicts some aspects of infant behavior and development.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Exogenous oxytocin attenuates suckling-induced prolactin release but not maternal or infant behavior in lactating rats.

The influence of exogenous oxytocin (OT) on maternal and infant behavior over 60 min of suckling, which followed 6 h of isolation, was investigated on Day 12 of lactation in rats. Mothers administered 1 IU of OT or saline through an indwelling atrial catheter and their litters indicated a similar nursing and suckling pattern, which was estimated by the crouching time of the mothers and the number of stretch reactions performed by the litters during a suckling period. To assess the alteration of the suckling intensity by OT administration, the plasma prolactin (PRL) level was determined by an Nb2 lymphoma cell bioassay. In the control group, the plasma PRL level increased and reached a peak at 45 min after the onset of suckling in 60% of the animals. The suckling-induced PRL release was completely inhibited and/or markedly delayed by OT administration. The difference in body weight of the litters before and after a suckling period was estimated as an index of the amount of milk suckled by the litters. There was no difference in the amount of milk between the control and OT-treated groups during a 60-min suckling period. However, it was significantly greater in the OT-treated group during the first 20 min of the suckling period. These results indicate that a dose of OT is a factor in the attenuation of the intensity of suckling done by the pups, whereas the nursing and suckling behavior is not influenced by OT administration.

Animals↗