Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Infant Behavior”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,657 records · Page 92Linked to original sources

Correlates of mastery-related behavior: a short-term longitudinal study of infants in their second year.

The present study examined correlates of mastery-related behavior across the infant's second year of life. Maternal control style was quantified on a control to support-of-autonomy continuum, infant-mother attachment was assessed in the Strange Situation, and mastery-related behavior was observed in a toy play session at 12 and 20 months. Infants whose mothers were supportive of their autonomy displayed greater task-oriented persistence and competence during play than did infants of more controlling mothers; securely attached and avoidant infants tended to exhibit greater persistence at tasks than anxious-ambivalent babies, and ambivalent babies were the most negative in affect.

Affect↗

The effect on father-infant interaction of demonstrating the neonatal behavioral assessment scale.

Forty-four first-time fathers who had attended prenatal classes and were present during labor and delivery of their healthy infants were divided randomly into an experimental group of 22 who observed the Brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale performed on their 2- to 3-day-old infants, or into a control group of 22 who did not receive this intervention. Paternal involvement in, and attitudes toward, infant caretaking and ratings of infant difficultness were compared in the two groups. Father-infant interaction was measured by two-minute videotape analysis at eight weeks postpartum. Paternal attitudes, caretaking activities, and perceptions of their infants were measured by questionnaire self-reports. There were significant differences in the quality, but not quantity, of father-infant interactions, and in one of four measures of infant difficultness (unpredictability) between the two groups.

Adult↗

Capturing postoperative pain responses in critically ill infants aged 0 to 9 months.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe physiologic and behavioral pain behaviors in postoperative critically ill infants. A secondary aim was to identify how these pain responses vary over time. DESIGN: This observational study was conducted in the pediatric intensive care unit at two tertiary referral hospitals. Using ethological methods of observation, video recordings of postoperative infants were viewed to depict different situations of pain and no pain and were then coded using a reliable checklist. PATIENTS: A total of 803 recorded segments were generated from recordings of five critically ill infants aged between 0 and 9 months who had undergone major surgery. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: There was an 82% agreement between the two coders. Multivariate analyses showed that physiologic responses differed only when adjusted for time. Significant decreases in systolic and diastolic arterial pressure (p < .001 and p = .036, respectively) were associated with postoperative pain exacerbated by painful procedures on day 2. On day 3, however, heart rate, arterial pressure (systolic, diastolic, and mean), and central venous pressure significantly increased (p < .05) in response to postoperative pain. Indicators included vertical stretch of the mouth, hand twitching, and jerky leg movements for postoperative pain and increase in respiratory distress, frown, eyes tightly closed, angular stretch of the mouth, silent or weak cry, jerky head movements, fist, pulling knees up, and spreading feet for postoperative pain exacerbated by painful stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the ability to capture different intensities of postoperative pain in critically ill infants beyond neonatal age. These pain indicators can be used for the development of a pain assessment tool for this group of infants.

Female↗

Developmental changes in baseline cortisol activity in early childhood: relations with napping and effortful control.

Development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis was examined using salivary cortisol levels assessed at wake-up, midmorning, midafternoon, and bedtime in 77 children aged 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months, in a cross-sectional design. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses were used to characterize cortisol production across the day and to examine age-related differences. Using area(s) under the curve (AUC), cortisol levels were higher among the 12-, 18-, and 24-month children than among the 30- and 36-month children. For all five age groups, cortisol levels were highest at wake-up and lowest at bedtime. Significant decreases were noted between wake-up and midmorning, and between midafternoon and bedtime. Unlike adults, midafternoon cortisol levels were not significantly lower than midmorning levels. Over this age period, children napped less and scored increasingly higher on parent reports of effortful control. Among the 30- and 36-month children, shorter naps were associated with more adultlike decreases in cortisol levels from midmorning to midafternoon. Considering all of the age groups together, effortful control correlated negatively with cortisol levels after controlling for age. These results suggest that circadian regulation of the HPA axis continues to mature into the third year in humans, and that its maturation corresponds to aspects of behavioral development.

Arousal↗

Early social, imitation, play, and language abilities of young non-autistic siblings of children with autism.

Studies are needed to better understand the broad autism phenotype in young siblings of children with autism. Cognitive, adaptive, social, imitation, play, and language abilities were examined in 42 non-autistic siblings and 20 toddlers with no family history of autism, ages 18-27 months. Siblings, as a group, were below average in expressive language and composite IQ, had lower mean receptive language, adaptive behavior, and social communication skills, and used fewer words, distal gestures, and responsive social smiles than comparison children. Additionally, parents reported social impairments in siblings by 13 months of age. These results suggest that the development of young non-autistic siblings is affected at an early age and, thus, should be closely monitored, with appropriate interventions implemented as needed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Does object modeling elicit imitative-like gestures from young infants?

One interpretation of the evidence for early imitative-like matching of facial gestures is that the acts are elicited by stimulus properties, rather than constructed by the infant. Verification of this possibility requires presentation of object models to determine whether infants reliably respond to them with movement-matching gestures. Two object models, one simulating tongue movements and the other mouth opening/closing, were presented to younger infants (median age = 5 weeks) and to older ones (median age = 12 weeks) under systematically varied movement conditions. Additionally, a live model presented tongue protrusion and mouth opening gestures to the same infants. Findings of two studies were similar. At neither age was there reliable elicitation of facial gestures by either object model, which suggests that most infants were not imitating the object movements or responding to them in a way that verifies elicitation of facial matches by object presentation. Live modeling of tongue extensions, however, did increase the incidence of partial tongue protrusions among infants at 5 weeks, which supports previous research.

Attention↗

Diagnosis of inferior vermian hypoplasia by fetal magnetic resonance imaging: potential pitfalls and neurodevelopmental outcome.

OBJECTIVE: Advances in fetal magnetic resonance imaging allow the detection of subtle anatomic anomalies of unclear long-term clinical significance. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of fetal magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of isolated inferior vermian hypoplasia and to describe the neurodevelopmental outcome. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed all cases with fetal and postnatal magnetic resonance imaging studies between 1999 and 2003 and identified 19 cases with a diagnosis of isolated inferior vermian hypoplasia. We compared prenatal and postnatal magnetic resonance imaging studies and evaluated subjects using developmental scales. RESULTS: Isolated inferior vermian hypoplasia was confirmed by postnatal magnetic resonance imaging in 68% of the patients (13/19); the remaining 6 patients had normal postnatal magnetic resonance imaging results. On developmental testing at mean age 19.8 +/- 4.9 months, 3 infants (23%) with confirmed postnatal diagnosis demonstrated motor and language delays and functional difficulties, and 2 infants (15%) had behavioral problems; none of the infants with normal postnatal magnetic resonance imaging studies were delayed. CONCLUSION: Isolated inferior vermian hypoplasia in the second trimester may be over-diagnosed by fetal magnetic resonance imaging and therefore warrants postnatal magnetic resonance imaging confirmation.

Cerebellum↗

Viewing imitation as child responsiveness: a link between teaching and discipline domains of socialization.

The authors observed 106 children's imitation and responses to maternal control at 14 and 22 months. Imitation was observed in a teaching task in which mothers modeled 3 standard pretend-play sequences. Responses to control were observed in typical discipline contexts. Girls imitated more than boys. Responsive imitation measures were coherent and longitudinally stable and correlated significantly with responsiveness to maternal control. The authors propose that a young child's willingness to imitate his or her parent in a teaching context and to comply in a control context both reflect a responsive or receptive stance toward parental socialization. The consistency of children's responsiveness across contexts has implications for both sociomoral and cognitive development.

Adult↗

Exploring the roles of peer and adult video models for infant imitation.

Research seeking to determine whether imitation of gestures is within the neonate's and young infant's competence has yielded discrepant findings. Some studies report imitation of at least one gesture, tongue protrusion, whereas others fail to find significant matching of even this action for infants aged 1 to 4 months. Videotaped presentations of a peer and an adult modeling tongue protrusions and mouth opening/closing were shown to infants with mean ages of 13 and 23 weeks in an attempt to test the efficacy of peer models and to free modeling from any potential bias. With both baseline and arousal controls to assess the significance of tongue protrusions and mouth openings to their respective models, no significant effects of modeling were discernible at either age in Study 1, Study 2 was conducted to address possible design limitations of the first investigation. Only one significant effect favoring an interpretation of imitative matching was obtained; it occurred at 12 weeks, following video presentations of tongue protrusions by an adult. This single effect may have been a chance result. Granting the two-dimensionality of the video image, imitative-like matching appears not to be engendered with great efficacy by a dynamic pattern that preserves characteristics of facial gestures, whether the gestures are modeled by an infant peer or by an adult.

Adult↗

Early behavioral development in autistic children: the first 2 years of life through home movies.

OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the research is to study the early behavioral development in autistic children through home movies. METHODS: fifteen home movies, regarding the first 2 years of life of autistic children are compared with the home movies of 15 normal children. The films of the two groups were mixed and rated by blind ratings with the Grid for the Assessment of Normal Behavior in Infants and Toddlers. The grid is composed of 17 items grouped into three developmental areas: social competence, intersubjectivity and symbolic activity. For every area, we have identified specific children's behaviors. RESULTS: Significant differences between the two groups are found both in the range of age 0-6 for intersubjectivity, and in the ranges of age 6-12 and 18-24 for symbolic activity. CONCLUSIONS: The authors pose some hypotheses about an early-appearing impairment of intersubjectivity, the ability to represent other's state of mind, in subjects with autistic disorder.

Age Factors↗

Paradoxical reactions in children associated with midazolam use during endoscopy.

All 2,617 children who received midazolam and meperidine for a variety of endoscopic procedures were monitored for the development of adverse behavioral problems. Thirty-six (1.4%) of the children (ages 1-17 years) experienced a paradoxical behavioral reaction, which consisted of inconsolable crying, combativeness, disorientation, dysphoria, tachycardia, agitation, and restlessness. The reaction occurred at a mean of 17 minutes after the administration of midazolam. Following treatment with flumazenil, the reaction dissipated within a mean of 14 minutes. Three of the 36 patients underwent additional endoscopic procedures utilizing only meperidine. No similar reaction was observed in these patients. Awareness of the reaction and prompt administration of flumazenil decreased the duration of the reaction.

Adjuvants, Anesthesia↗

Patterns of looking behavior in full-term and low birth weight infants at 40 weeks post-conceptional age.

Given the usefulness of visual behavior as an assessment method in older infants, a simple method of visual behavioral evaluation applicable in clinical settings was utilized to gather descriptive data on 42 infants at term. Using an "infant control" method for determining the duration of stimulus presentation, a series of four patterned targets was presented to 25 healthy full-term (FT) and 17 low birth weight (LBW) infants at 40 weeks postconceptional age. Infants were examined in their nursery cribs, and each stimulus was presented until the infant reached a criterion of a 50% or greater decrement in looking time. LBW infants looked for longer time periods, without pause, than FT infants; LBW mean trial length was twice that of FTs. Although total looking time was longer for the LBW group, LBW infants took twice the length of time as FTs to reach the decrement criterion for the first target and thus viewed fewer targets than FT infants. Despite the longer looking of LBW infants, only 41%, as compared to 56% of the FT group, showed an increase in looking time when a new stimulus was presented. The quality of LBW infants' visual behavior was more often marked by long, continuous looking at the same pattern, in contrast to shorter, more discrete and rapidly decrementing looks by the FT newborn. While there was a large variability within groups, the differential patterns of visual behavior are considered likely to reflect variations in processing of information, possibly associated with differences in integrity or maturation of the visual system.

Child Behavior↗

Behaviors associated with onset of gastroesophageal reflux episodes in infants. Prospective study using split-screen video and pH probe.

To identify behaviors associated with the onset of gastroesophageal reflux episodes in infants both systematically and prospectively, each of 10 patients (aged 2 to 32 weeks) was studied during 2 hours of intraluminal esophageal pH probe monitoring, using a split-screen audiovisual recording technique. Videotape analysis of eight infants who had scoreable reflux events revealed six discrete behaviors closely associated temporally (P < .001 to < .05) with the onset of reflux events: "discomfort" (crying or frowning), "emission" (of liquid or gas, i.e., regurgitation, drooling, or burping), yawning, stridor, stretching, and mouthing. Three behaviors (hiccuping, sneezing, and thumb-sucking) were infrequent but were significantly associated with onset of reflux events in one or two patients each. A tenth behavior, coughing or gagging, was significantly associated with onset of reflux events in two patients, but not in the rest, despite relatively frequent occurrence. Exploration of temporal relations between reflux and each behavior suggested that discomfort, emission, mouthing, and cough-gag may have caused reflux episodes, and that all 10 of the behaviors may have been caused by reflux episodes. These findings and a "quiet period" immediately preceding episodes in six of the infants suggest interesting pathophysiologic mechanisms in infants which require further evaluation.

Crying↗

The depressed mother as a source of stimulation for her infant.

Compared a group of 25 postpartum depressed mothers and 25 control mothers with respect to the level and quality of stimulation they provided for their newborn infants during a feeding session. Observer measures of maternal behavior included visual, auditory and kinesthetic stimulation and levels of unconditional positive regard. Results did not indicate any differences between the two groups in levels of stimulation. However, depressed mothers provided significantly lower levels of unconditional positive regard and exhibited less continuity of rocking behavior with their infants. A post hoc analysis that compared the extremes of the two S groups (N = 22) revealed significant differences in gazing behavior, with more depressed mothers gazing less at their infant's faces. Depressed mothers exhibited significantly lower levels of marital adjustment and had more extensive postpartum concerns. Contrary to expectations, no relationship was demonstrated between level of marital adjustment and maternal behavior toward the infant.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Crawling-onset age predicts visual cliff avoidance in infants.

Two experiments are reported that tested the effects of crawling-onset age, the amount of crawling experience, and testing age on avoidance of the deep side of a visual cliff apparatus by human infants. In Experiment 1, 49 infants ranging in age from 7 to 13 mo. were tested on the visual cliff after 1 or 2 mo. of crawling experience. Discriminant analysis revealed that crawling-onset age, and not crawling experience, discriminated between those infants who crossed and those infants who avoided the apparent drop-off. Infants who crossed the deep side were infants with an early crawling-onset age. In Experiment 2, 40 infants were tested on a visual cliff apparatus, half at 9 and half at 12 mo. of age. Discriminant analysis again found that crawling-onset age discriminated between infants who crossed the infants who would not cross the deep side, whereas testing age alone did not. These results call into question the idea that experience crawling is critical in inducing visually guided avoidance behavior in infants. It is argued that the crawling-onset age effect occurs because crawling during the tactile phase of infancy interferes with later visual control of locomotion.

Age Factors↗

Development in mother-infant en face interaction of high-risk newborn infants: a longitudinal follow-up from 0 to 7 months.

In order to evaluate mother-infant en face interaction of high-risk infants and their mothers, we followed three dyads from a high-risk group and three dyads from a low-risk group, every 3 weeks from 0 to 30 weeks of corrected postnatal age. The mother-infant en face interaction was analyzed by conditional probability analysis with a lag sequential concept. The main findings of this study were: (1) there was almost no clear difference in the amount of movement between the high-risk group infants and the low-risk group infants; (2) behavioral responsiveness of the high-risk group dyads was unclear, however, behavioral responsiveness of the low-risk group dyads was very clear; and (3) in common to all subjects of the low-risk group, an increasing frequency of responsive mother-infant interaction was found during the postnatal period. However, in the high-risk group, each dyad showed a very different developmental course. The findings suggest qualitative differences in mother-infant en face interactions between the high-risk group dyads and the low-risk group dyads.

Child Development↗

The foundations of psychological understanding.

In this paper, I review some recent submissions to Developmental Science that advance our understanding of psychological development. More and more submissions to the journal explore the origins of knowledge and, for psychological knowledge, such origins are multiple. Here I consider the contribution of mechanisms such as contingency detection, gaze following and gaze monitoring, social referencing and joint attention to emergent psychological understanding. I also consider infant understanding of goal-directed action, and the intimate connection between language acquisition and psychological development. The centrality of intention-reading skills to both language and social cognition is highlighted.

Attention↗