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PubMed2005

Mealtime behaviors in families of infants and toddlers with cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Parents of infants and toddlers with cystic fibrosis (CF) report problematic mealtime behaviors. Controlled studies that examine parent and child mealtime behaviors in infants and toddlers with CF using objective, observational procedures are needed to augment parent report findings and identify targets for effective interventions. We examined four hypotheses: 1) Parents of young children with CF would engage in more mealtime management behaviors to encourage eating than parents of control children. 2) Infants and toddlers with CF would engage in more problematic mealtime behaviors than control children. 3) Infants and toddlers with CF and their parents would demonstrate a greater frequency of behaviors incompatible with eating in the second half of the meal compared to the first half. 4) During slow meals, infants and toddlers would display a higher rate of mealtime behavior problems than during fast meals. METHODS: Thirty-four infants and toddlers with CF (M age = 18.3 +/- 7.9 months) and a matched community sample of same age peers participated. Videotaped mealtimes were coded using the Dyadic Interaction Nomenclature for Eating (DINE). RESULTS: Parents of children with CF gave a higher rate and frequency of commands to eat than controls. All children displayed similar rates and frequencies of mealtime behaviors incompatible with eating. As the meal progressed, all children, regardless of illness status, displayed a greater frequency of behaviors incompatible with eating. CONCLUSION: Direct observation of mealtime behaviors indicates that parents of infants and toddlers with CF engage in more mealtime management behaviors than parents of controls and that young children exhibit more behaviors incompatible with eating as the meal progresses. These findings highlight modifiable targets for behavioral and nutrition interventions that can be specifically designed for families of infants and toddlers with CF.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1989

Effects of hand-rearing on the behavioral development of infant and juvenile gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla).

Nineteen hand-reared and seven mother-reared infant and juvenile gorillas were observed for a period of 3 years. Almost all hand-reared individuals developed stereotyped behaviors during the first months. In most cases these behaviors disappeared in the first or second year. Social behaviors, solitary play, nest building and grooming developed at about the same age in hand-reared and mother-reared infants. Hand-reared immatures showed significantly more solitary play, more aggression and less social play than mother-reared ones, especially when raised in pairs. When young gorillas were kept in groups, the frequencies of these behaviors came nearer to those of mother-reared immatures. No significant differences were noted in social play. When introduced to conspecifics, hand-reared infants sometimes reacted with indiscriminant aggression. Gorillas should thus preferably be reared in peer groups and be introduced to adults not later than one year of age.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Automated behavioral procedures for infant monkeys.

A method is described for testing infant monkeys on a variety of operant tasks as soon as they can self-feed, typically within the first week of life. Each infant was housed during the 16-21-hour experimental session in a cage to which operant behavioral equipment was attached. Computer control of the experimental contingencies and data acquisition allowed a relatively large number of monkeys to be tested simultaneously, as well as detailed analysis of response parameters. Infant monkeys are capable of learning a number of tasks that assess learning and memory, including visual discrimination and reversal, simultaneous discrimination, and spatial and nonspatial matching to sample. Infant monkeys also perform like older animals on intermittent schedules of reinforcement. The long experimental sessions allowed determination of feeding pattern over the course of the night. Analyses of these variables have proved sensitive to the effects of developmental exposure to neurotoxicants such as lead and caffeine.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Comparing infant and juvenile behavior in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): a preliminary study.

The dichotomy between the two Pan species, the bonobo (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) has been strongly emphasized until very recently. Given that most studies were primarily based on adult individuals, we shifted the "continuity versus discontinuity" discussion to the infant and juvenile stage. Our aim was to test quantitatively, some conflicting statements made in literature considering species differences between immature bonobos and chimpanzees. On one hand it is suggested that infant bonobos show retardation in motor and social development when compared with chimpanzees. Additionally it is expected that the weaning process is more traumatic to chimpanzee than bonobo infants. But on the other hand the development of behaviors is expected to be very similar in both species. We observed eight mother-infant pairs of each species in several European zoos. Our preliminary research partially confirms that immature chimpanzees seem spatially more independent, spending more time at a larger distance from their mother than immature bonobos. However, the other data do not seem to support the hypothesis that bonobo infants show retardation of motor or social development. The development of solitary play, environmental exploration, social play, non-copulatory mounts and aggressive interactions do not differ between the species. Bonobo infants in general even groom other group members more than chimpanzee infants. We also found that older bonobo infants have more nipple contact than same aged chimpanzees and that the weaning process seems to end later for bonobos than for immature chimpanzee. Additionally, although immature bonobos show in general more signs of distress, our data suggest that the weaning period itself is more traumatic for chimpanzees.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2004

Prematurity, maternal stress and mother-child interactions.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that premature birth and the immaturity of the child can affect the quality of the parent-child relationship. The present study examines the relationship between maternal and infant interactional behavior over time and infant perinatal risk factors as well as maternal perinatal recollected traumatic experience. Few studies have explored the relationship between maternal stress and the quality of parent-infant interaction. DESIGN: Mother-child interaction was recorded at 6 and 18 months of infant's age, in a population of 47 preterm infants (GA<34 weeks) and 25 full-term infants, born in 1998, during a play interaction. According to the Care Index, sensitivity, control and unresponsiveness have been used to code maternal interactional characteristics, and cooperation, compliance-compulsiveness, difficulty and passivity have been used to code the infant's interactional characteristics. The level of maternal stress was evaluated with the Perinatal Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire (PPQ), and the infant's perinatal risk factors were assessed with the Perinatal Risk Inventory (PERI). RESULTS: Mothers of high-risk infants, as well as mothers that had experienced traumatic stress in the perinatal period, were less sensitive and more controlling at 6 months. The interactional behavior of the preterm infant was different from that of the full-term infant at 18 months of age, and was correlated with maternal traumatic stress but not with perinatal risk factors. CONCLUSION: These results underline the importance of maternal traumatic experience related to premature birth and its potential long lasting influence on mother-child interactional behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Electrophysiological indices of frontal lobe development. Relations to cognitive and affective behavior in human infants over the first year of life.

Over the past 8 years we have been involved in a study of the psychophysiological correlates of cognitive and affective behaviors during the first year of life. We have utilized recordings of brain electrical activity (the EEG) to describe differences in regional activation as well as, more recently, changes in regional connectivity. Our studies have indicated an important role for the frontal region in the expression of positive and negative emotions and in the regulation of emotional distress. In addition, individual differences in frontal EEG maturation seem to be associated with improved performance on tasks known to involve specific regions of frontal cortex. The corroborative data from different areas of study (studies of brain-damaged adults; studies of lesions in nonhuman primates) give us confidence that our measures of regional electrical activity are indeed reflecting true brain processes. Our continuing task is to understand the skills that are involved in these complex behaviors (such as AB performance or expression of affect) so as to better understand these important brain-behavior relationships.

Aging↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Feeding readiness in preterm infants: the relationship between preterm behavioral state and feeding readiness behaviors and efficiency during transition from gavage to oral feeding.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this secondary analysis was to assess whether alert behavioral states were associated with an increased number of feeding readiness behaviors (FRBs) and whether the number of FRBs were associated with subsequent feeding efficiency in healthy premature infants born between 29 to 35 weeks gestation. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The data were collected as part of a larger study designed to compare the frequency of FRBs and feeding efficiency between control and experimental groups. Data from 21 stable premature infants were included in this secondary analysis. Infants were videotaped immediately prior to each of the first three oral feedings, from which infant behavioral state (IBS) and FRBs were assessed. Feeding efficiency was determined by calculating the ratio of feeding intake to feeding duration. RESULTS: IBS was not a significant predictor of the number of FRBs. The number of FRBs was predictive of feeding efficiency (p <.05). Group assignment was a marginally significant predictor of feeding efficiency (p < .10). Infant sex (p < .05), birthweight (p < .01), gestational age at birth (p <.01), and gestational age at entry (p < .05) were identified as significant predictors of the number of FRBs. Group assignment was marginally significant (p < .10). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Feeding efficiency may be predicted by the increased number of FRBs immediately prior to feeding. An infant's attributes (sex, birth-weight, and gestational age) may relate to feeding efficiency and should be assessed when instituting oral feeding. Assessment of FRBs can be easily incorporated into routine clinical practice.

Attention↗
PubMed1985

Infant temperament and noncompliant behavior at four years: a longitudinal study.

Noncompliant behavior in early childhood (i.e., exaggerated, but age-appropriate negativism) has been inadequately studied. This longitudinal study explores preschool temperament and maternal behavior as current correlates of negativistic behavior at age 4, and early maternal characteristics and infant temperament as etiological variables in the production of negativism. Longitudinal evidence was collected from 62 mother-child dyads, representative of all social classes. This evidence included home observations of maternal and child behavior at 4 years, a temperament questionnaire at 4 years, a questionnaire about infant temperament, and observational and interview measures at various stages from birth to 3 years, of infant behavior and maternal characteristics. The findings suggest that infant and childhood temperament (especially the degree of infant fussiness) are highly predictive of physical noncompliance, and that physical noncompliance is unrelated to maternal or demographic variables. A combination of maternal variables including warmth, closeness, and verbal directiveness, both positive and negative, as well as child variables, predict verbal noncompliance. Demographic variables, temperament, and maternal attitudes predict passive noncompliance. Noncompliance is viewed as a complex phenomenon in which constitutional and environmental variables interact.

Child Behavior Disorders↗
PubMed1986

Distribution of auditory response behaviors in normal infants and profoundly multihandicapped children.

Responsiveness (yes/no decisions) to sound has been found to be similar for normal infants and profoundly multihandicapped children of comparable developmental ages (Flexer & Gans, 1985). The purpose of this investigation is to extend the comparison of these two groups by examining the distribution of their response behaviors to sound. Ten normal and 10 multihandicapped children were videotaped while various auditory signals were presented. Without knowledge of stimulus type, five judges listed the behaviors that occurred during 24 sound and 24 catch trials for each child. The behaviors were then evaluated as a function of the stimulus parameters of meaningfulness, bandwidth, and intensity. Results revealed that the profoundly multihandicapped children displayed relatively more reflexive than attentive type behaviors and exhibited fewer behaviors per response. The effects of stimulus-type on the numbers and distribution of responses are discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral responsiveness in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage.

Preterm infants with varying degrees of intraventricular hemorrhage (none, n = 21; grade I to II, n = 22; grade II to IV, n = 24) and a group of full-term infants (n = 21) were compared with regard to behavioral responsiveness and parental reports of the infant's temperament. Behavioral responsiveness was assessed during the presentation of 15 visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli at 3 months of age (corrected age for preterm infants). Summary scores for positive and negative responsiveness, as well as sociability, soothability, and overall activity levels, were derived from behavioral observations by coders who were unaware of the infant's characteristics. The Bates Infant Characteristic Questionnaire was completed by the main care giver and scored on four summary variables: fussy-difficult, unadaptable, dull, and unpredictable. Preterm infants, regardless of the presence or severity of intraventricular hemorrhage, showed less positive responses and less overall activity in response to stimulation. Infants with grade I to II intraventricular hemorrhage were less sociable and more difficult to soothe than full-term control infants. Individual differences in positive, negative, sociability, and soothability were related to the questionnaire scores of fussy-difficult and unadaptability. Both prematurity and degree of intraventricular hemorrhage affect behavioral responsiveness and these individual differences are related to parental reports of the infant's temperament.

Affect↗
PubMed2005

Brain potentials to native and non-native speech contrasts in 7- and 11-month-old American infants.

Abstract Behavioral data establish a dramatic change in infants' phonetic perception between 6 and 12 months of age. Foreign-language phonetic discrimination significantly declines with increasing age. Using a longitudinal design, we examined the electrophysiological responses of 7- and 11-month-old American infants to native and non-native consonant contrasts. Analyses of the event-related potentials (ERP) of the group data at 7 and at 11 months of age demonstrated that infants' discriminatory ERP responses to the non-native contrast are present at 7 months of age but disappear by 11 months of age, consistent with the behavioral data reported in the literature. However, when the same infants were divided into subgroups based on individual ERP components, we found evidence that the infant brain remains sensitive to the non-native contrast at 11 months of age, showing differences in either the P150-250 or the N250-550 time window, depending upon the subgroup. Moreover, we observed an increase in infants' responsiveness to native language consonant contrasts over time. We describe distinct neural patterns in two groups of infants and suggest that their developmental differences may have an impact on language development.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1980

The behavior of jaundiced infants undergoing phototherapy.

Ten full-term jaundiced infants were examined with the Brazelton Scale before, during and following phototherapy. They were compared with 10 non-jaundiced control infants examined at the same post-partum ages. All infants were appropriate for gestational age and free of perinatal complications other than hyperbilirubinemia. Differences on the orienting items of the Brazelton examinations (primarily visual orienting) were found prior to the onset of phototherapy or separation, and persisted for the length of the study. The greatest over-all differences were noted during phototherapy and separation from the mother, at which times the treatment group had lower scores on four of the six orienting items. They also had lower scores on muscle tonus, pull-to-sit and cuddliness while undergoing phototherapy, and poorer scores on orienting items, self-quieting and tremulousness were also evident three days following treatment. It is suggested that the differences found in mother-infant interaction following separation for the management of minor medical problems may be related to changes in infant behaviour which are already evident prior to separation. In the cases of jaundiced infants requiring phototherapy, these changes appear to be related primarily to hyperbilirubinemia. The possibility of these effects being prolonged or confounded by phototherapy or separation cannot be discounted.

Bilirubin↗
PubMed2001

Dental caries patterns and oral health behaviors in Arizona infants and toddlers.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to use tooth eruption sequence, and a tooth- and surface-specific caries analysis method to determine: (1) the temporal relationship between tooth eruption and caries onset; (2) the validity of pre-existing concepts of caries progression; and (3) the relationship of certain putative health behaviors with caries prevalence. METHODS: A total of 2,428 Arizona children aged 6-36-months, who were recruited from WIC programs (a federal program for low-income children at nutritional risk), health fairs and private day care centers, received visual dental caries examinations. Additionally, an oral health behavior survey was administered to the parents of the 1,529 children recruited from the WIC programs. RESULTS: Dental caries was detected soon after tooth eruption, and by 34-36 months of age 25% of this population had caries. Maxillary anterior caries developed as early as 10-12 months of age. Fissure caries of the molars, either by itself or with maxillary anterior caries, was seen as early as 13-15 months of age. Posterior proximal caries was seen as early at 19-21 months, and only was present in conjunction with the other patterns. Over 40% of the 13-36-month-old children whose parents completed the survey still used a bottle. Night-time bottle use was associated with maxillary anterior caries in 24-36-month-old children, but no association was found in younger children or with posterior caries patterns. Survey responses also showed that fewer than 15% of these children reported having had a dental visit. CONCLUSIONS: Dental caries was a significant health issue for these children under 3 years of age, and factors other than bottle feeding may play an important role in its etiology. Prevention of dental caries in children under age three will depend on a better understanding of the etiology as well as improved access to care.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

Prolonged exposure to a visual pattern may promote behavioral organization in preterm infants.

The article reports a study documenting preterm infants' responses to visual patterns placed in their incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the effects of long-term exposure to the patterns. In the first experiment, 20 preterm infants were exposed to a visual pattern in two conditions, stationary and rotating, during two successive exposure periods. Regardless of condition, the majority of infants looked longer at the visual display during the second exposure period and experienced decreased heart rates and quiet, alert states. In a second experiment, visual patterns placed in 9 preterm infants' incubators on transfer to the intermediate side of the NICU remained in the incubator until discharge. An additional 9 infants served as controls. Infants exposed to the visual patterns experienced fewer state changes and stronger visual skills than infants in incubators without visual displays. These findings, although tentative because of the relatively small sample sizes, suggest that visual patterns may promote behavioral organization and visual skills in preterm infants.

Female↗