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PubMed2004

The role of the endocrine system in baboon maternal behavior.

BACKGROUND: Human mothers display a wide range of parenting skills, and although we have gathered a large body of evidence on a variety of factors affecting maternal behavior, we still know relatively little about the physiologic correlates of variation in parental behavior in primates. METHODS: Excreted gonadal and adrenal steroids were measured across parturition in a large sample (n = 89) of group-living female baboons. Maternal behavior data were collected during the first 2 months of infants' life. RESULTS: We found that changes in the excreted sex steroid hormones and cortisol were associated with baboon mothers' infant-directed behaviors. Mothers who displayed more stress-related behaviors, who were also prone to maintain less contact with their infants, had higher postpartum cortisol levels, higher prepartum pregnanediol-3-glucoronide (PdG) levels, and lower postpartum PdG levels. Mothers with higher prepartum cortisol levels showed higher levels of infant-directed affiliative behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: These results point toward the importance of the whole endocrine system as a functional unit in terms of enhancing maternal care in primates. The dramatic physiologic changes occurring across parturition may act, in coordination with the cognitive-experiential system, to help the mother cope with the additional challenges imposed by the newborn.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Behavioral responses of substance-exposed newborns: a retrospective study.

This study assessed the behavior of infants whose mothers had a drug history by using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. Data were collected via retrospective chart review (N = 103). Urine testing was only reported for 66 mothers during pregnancy and at birth. Infants performed within normally expected ranges for all items, except consolability and self-quieting. These findings support the use of NBAS in assessing newborn behavior because the information gained assists the parent in providing a supportive care giving environment that will not only help the infant recover but also enhance interaction between infant and parent.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Perceived stress, social support, and affectionate behaviors of adolescent mothers with infants in neonatal intensive care.

INTRODUCTION: This article focuses on affectionate behaviors of adolescent mothers with their infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Hypotheses derived from behavioral science theory posited the direct influence of social support and perceived stress on affectionate behaviors, the statistical interaction of social support and perceived stress on affectionate behaviors, and perceived stress as a mediator of the relationship between social support and affectionate behaviors. METHOD: Subjects were enrolled from July 1993 through September 1994. Information about perceived stress and social support was obtained twice by means of an interview. Affectionate behaviors were measured by NICU nurse observations. Analyses were conducted on subsamples ranging from 57 to 107 subjects. RESULTS: All hypotheses were rejected. Neither social supports nor perceived stress were related to affectionate behaviors, and no statistical interactions among the 3 variables were identified. DISCUSSION: The findings are considered in the context of the methodology used, stress and social support theory, and implications for practice and future research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Effects of nonrigid reclining infant seat on preterm behavioral states and motor activity.

Twenty preterm neonates in an intensive care unit (mean gestational age, 30 weeks; mean birthweight, 1375 g) were randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. The experimental infants were placed twice a day (for 3-h sessions) in a nonrigid reclining seat for a 6- to 7-week period. Before discharge from intensive care, the behavioral states and motor activity of the neonates were monitored during sleep-wake behavior observations (2 h). The experimental group subjects slept more, were quieter, and made fewer movements such as cloni, contraction and startles. The discussion centers on the distinct advantages of using nonrigid infant seats in a reclining position in intensive care units.

Behavior↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Research to practice: emotional development and maternal/infant attachment.

A mother's responsiveness to her infant's signals is important for developing their personal relationship and the child's social and cognitive competence. While interacting, both mother and infant emit signals to capture each other's attention and to indicate whether to join, sustain, or terminate their interaction. Maternal sensitivity to these signals is a central feature in the development of optimal or secure attachment. However, a mother's perceptions and expectations of her infant's behavior affects her sensitivity to infant signals. Because of the effect of these parental perceptions, modifying the parent's cognitive sets and coping strategies to help them better deal with the challenge of responding to infant distress can be beneficial.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Reduction in obstructive breathing events during body rocking: a controlled polygraphic study in preterm and full-term infants.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of body rocking on infant respiratory behavior during sleep. METHODS: Eighteen infants with documented obstructive sleep apneas were studied. There were eight premature infants with persistent bradycardias and 10 infants born full-term, admitted after an idiopathic apparent life-threatening event. No cause for the obstructive apneas was found. The infants were recorded with polygraphic techniques during two successive nights. They were randomly assigned to a rocking or a nonrocking mattress. The conditions were reversed the following night, in a crossover design. RESULTS: In both groups of infants, no significant difference was seen between the two consecutive nights for most of the variables studied: total sleep time, the proportion of non-rapid-eye-movement and rapid-eye-movement sleep, the number of arousals, the number and maximal duration of central apneas, the frequency of periodic breathing, the level of oxygen saturation, and heart rate. During the nonrocking nights, all infants had repeated obstructive breathing events. In seven of the eight preterm infants and in nine of the 10 full-term subjects, body rocking was associated with a significant decrease in the frequency of obstructive events. During rocking, in the preterm infants the obstructions fell from a median of 2.5 to 1.8 episodes per hour (P = .034). In the full-term infants, rocking reduced the obstructive events from a median of 1.5 obstructions per hour to 0.7 (P = .005). No difference was seen for the duration of the obstructive episodes. CONCLUSION: In preterm and full-term infants prone to obstructive sleep apneas, gentle side-to-side body rocking is associated with a significant decrease in the frequency of upper-airway obstructions.

Beds↗
PubMed1981

The developmental course of behavioral states in preterm infants: a descriptive study.

This study describes longitudinal changes in observable states of 58 preterm infants, 29-40 weeks conceptional age, after various forms of stimulation were given during a standardized neurologic examination. The states used in this investigation were considered only in terms of observable behavior. The data indicate that regardless of conceptional age, the level of arousal increased as the examination progressed. Both the rapidity of change from lower to higher states and the predominant highest state reached were clearly dependent upon conceptional age. No relationship between length of extrauterine life with states at 40 weeks was found.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed2004

Through Colombian lenses: ethnographic and conventional analyses of maternal care and their associations with secure base behavior.

According to attachment theory, the quality of care plays a key role in the organization of infants' secure base behavior across contexts and cultures. Yet information about attachment relationships in a variety of cultures is scarce, and questions remain as to whether Ainsworth's conceptualization of early care quality (sensitivity; M. D. S. Ainsworth, M. C. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978) is appropriate for characterizing caregiving behavior in different groups and whether culturally specific descriptions of early care are related to conventional measures of maternal sensitivity and to infants' security. In this naturalistic study of mother-infant interactions in Colombia, scores on different domains of maternal care were obtained through ethnographic methodology, and conventional Q-sort scores for maternal and infant behavior were obtained. Findings are discussed in terms of the cross-cultural generality of the sensitivity construct and the sensitivity-security link and of the relevance of naturalistic open-ended studies in different contexts.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relating mothers' anxiety and perception to infant satiety, anxiety, and feeding behavior.

The purpose of this study was to explore early psychophysiologic mother-infant interaction using the tenderness and anxiety theorems of Harry Stack Sullivan. Maternal anxiety and perception were assessed and related to changes in infant satiety, anxiety, and feeding behavior. Sixty-five healthy post-partum, bottle-feeding mothers completed the Blank Infant Tenderness Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Blood samples were obtained from the infants just before and 60 minutes after feeding for determination of glucose and cortisol. Formula consumption was also noted. Multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated that maternal state-trait anxiety was related to infant glucose, cortisol, and formula consumption. In particular, mild maternal prefeed state anxiety was associated with lower infant cortisol difference scores, and extremely low maternal prefeed state anxiety was associated with higher infant cortisol difference scores. Mild maternal feed state anxiety, in turn, was associated with greater infant formula consumption, and extremely low maternal feed state anxiety was associated with lower formula consumption. Pearson correlations indicated a significant direct relationship between infant prefeed cortisol and postfeed glucose, but not between infant formula consumption and postfeed glucose.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Comparison of behavior characteristics of the spontaneously alert state and the liberated state in the term newborn].

Occupational therapists evaluate the capacities of infants at younger ages than ever before. The variability of the infants' state has an inevitable influence on the expression of their behaviours. In order to counter the effect of this instability, Grenier (1985) suggests inducing the "liberated state," which optimizes the infant's level of attention. The aim of this study was to identify the behaviours that discriminate this liberated state from the alert state (state 4) as described by Brazelton (1973). Some of the parameters that were defined in the Synactive Theory of Development Model (Als, 1982) were used in order to document the behaviours of the infants observed in the two different states. The average age of the infants, at the time of observation, was 62 hours. The duration of the observation was 5 minutes. Among the 54 newborns that were evaluated, 21 were observed in the two states under study; 33 were evaluated in one state only. The results confirm a greater stability of the "liberated state". Stress and self-regulation behaviours, and the need for external regulation are less frequent in this state; these differences are statistically significant (p < 0.05). Goal-directed movements are more frequent in the "liberated state" (p < 0.001). The authors suggest the use of the "liberated state" to further document the early capacities of infants.

Attention↗
PubMed2004

Cognitive and motor development among small-for-gestational-age infants: impact of zinc supplementation, birth weight, and caregiving practices.

OBJECTIVE: Infants who are born small for gestational age (SGA) are at risk for developmental delays, which may be related to deficiencies in zinc, an essential trace metal, or to deficiencies in their ability to elicit caregiver responsiveness (functional isolation hypothesis). The objective of this study was to evaluate at 6 and 10 months of age the impact of a 9-month supplementation trial of 5 mg of zinc on the development and behavior of infants who were born SGA and to evaluate infants' ability to elicit responsive caregiver behavior. METHODS: A randomized, controlled trial of zinc supplementation was conducted among 200 infants in a low-income, urban community in Delhi, India. Infants were recruited when they were full term (>36 weeks) and SGA (birth weight <10th percentile weight-for-gestational age). Infants were randomized to receive daily supplements of a micronutrient mix (folate, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and riboflavin) with or without 5 mg of zinc sulfate. The supplement was administered by field workers daily from 30 days to 9 months of age. At 6 and 10 months, infant development and behavior were measured in a clinical setting using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II. Caregiver responsiveness, observed on an Indian version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scale, was measured during a home visit at 10 months. During both the clinic and home visits, caregivers reported on their infant's temperament. RESULTS: There were no direct effects of zinc supplementation on the infants' development or behavior at either 6 or 10 months. In a subgroup analysis among the zinc-supplemented infants, lower birth weight infants were perceived to be more temperamentally difficult than higher weight infants; in the control group, birth weight was not associated with temperament. Heavier birth weight infants had better scores on all measures of development and behavior at 6 months and on changes in mental and motor development from 6 to 10 months, compared with lighter birth weight infants. Boys had better weight gain and higher scores on mental development and emotional regulation than girls. Infants who were from families of higher socioeconomic status (indexed by parental education, house size, and home ownership) had higher scores on mental development and orientation/engagement (exploratory behavior) than infants who were from families of lower socioeconomic status. In keeping with the functional isolation hypothesis, caregiver responsiveness was associated with infant irritability, controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, birth weight, and weight gain. Responsive mothers were more likely to perceive their infants to be temperamentally easy than less responsive mothers. CONCLUSION: Possible explanations for the lack of effects of zinc supplementation on infant development and behavior include 1) subtle effects of zinc supplementation that may not have been detected by the Bayley Scales, 2) interference with other nutritional deficiencies, or 3) no impact of zinc deficiency on infants' development and behavior. The link between birth weight and irritability among infants in the zinc supplementation group suggests that the response to zinc supplementation may differ by birth weight, with irritability occurring among the most vulnerable infants. Longer term follow-up studies among zinc-supplemented infants are needed to examine whether early supplementation leads to developmental or behavioral changes that have an impact on school-age performance. The relationship between infant irritability and low maternal responsiveness lends support to the functional isolation hypothesis and the importance of asking caregivers about infant temperament.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1999

Frightening maternal behavior linking unresolved loss and disorganized infant attachment.

Main and Hesse's (1990) model in which frightening (threatening, frightened, or dissociated) parental behavior explains why infants of parents with unresolved loss develop disorganized attachment relationships was tested. Unresolved loss using the Adult Attachment Interview in a nonclinical middle-class sample of 85 mothers who had experienced the loss of someone important was assessed. Disorganized attachment was examined in the Strange Situation. Parental behavior was recorded during 22-hr home visits. The model applied to mothers with currently insecure attachment representations. Secure mothers with unresolved loss displayed less frightening behavior than other mothers, and unresolved loss in secure mothers did not predict disorganized attachment of their infants. Frightening behavior predicted infant disorganized attachment irrespective of maternal security.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Early child care and self-control, compliance, and problem behavior at twenty-four and thirty-six months. The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network.

To evaluate child-care effects on young children's self-control, compliance, and problem behavior, children enrolled in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were tested and observed in the laboratory and in child care at 24 and 36 months, and mothers and caregivers completed questionnaires. Indicators of child-care quantity, quality, stability, type, and age of entry, along with measures of family background, mothering, and child characteristics obtained through the first 3 years of life were used to predict 2 and 3 year child functioning. Results revealed (1) mothering to be a stronger and more consistent predictor of child outcomes than child care; (2) little evidence that early, extensive, and continuous care was related to problematic child behavior, in contrast to results from earlier work; (3) that among the child-care predictors, child-care quality was the most consistent predictor of child functioning, although limited variance could be explained by any (or all) child-care variables; and (4) that virtually none of the anticipated interactions among child-care factors or between them and family or child measures proved significant.

Adaptation, Psychological↗