Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Infant Dyads (infant + dyad)
Selected AbstractsDistinguishing Mother,Infant Interaction From Stranger,Infant Interaction at 2, 4, and 6 Months of AgeINFANCY, Issue 2 2008Ann E. Bigelow Observers watched videotaped face-to-face mother,infant and stranger,infant interactions of 12 infants at 2, 4, or 6 months of age. Half of the observers saw each mother paired with her own infant and another infant of the same age (mother tapes) and half saw each infant paired with his or her mother and with a stranger (infant tapes). Observers were asked to judge which was the mother,infant dyad in each pair. Observers' accuracy improved as infants aged and was above chance for both mother and infant tapes when infants were 6 months. Differences between mother,infant and stranger,infant dyadic communication patterns also emerged as the infants aged. At 6 months, mother,infant dyads had more symmetrical communication and less asymmetrical communication than stranger,infant dyads. [source] Fathers and families: Locating the ghost in the nurseryINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 5 2004Paul Barrows Infant mental-health clinicians and researchers have tended to focus particularly on the mother,infant dyad and, in Fraiberg's terms, on the "ghosts" that the mother brings to the nursery. This article begins by reiterating the case for paying as much attention to the "ghosts" that the father brings if we are to maximize our therapeutic impact. It is argued further, however, that over and above the father's individual role, what is more critical for the developing infant's future mental health is the nature of the parental couple that he/she encounters. That is, it is the relationship between the parents and their interactions that creates the emotional climate into which the infant is born and that determines the nature of the "internal" parental couple that they in turn will acquire. It is argued that the couple's relationship therefore needs to be the primary focus for our therapeutic interventions. Clinical material is presented to illustrate these points. [source] The transference onto GodINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 2 2009Dan Merkur Abstract Magical religious practices, defined as instrumental uses of the divine, are devoted to gods and God, in Winnicott's terms, as "subjectively perceived objects," whereas the comparatively rare phenomenon of non-magical religion is devoted to "objective objects." In a "bargain with fate," the divine is a transferential figure whose response to symptomatic cultic behavior is predictable and makes cultic behavior a magical means to control fate. The bargain with fate may be treated as a sublimation of the mother,infant dyad that is isomorphic with pre-Oedipal and Oedipal fixations. The therapeutic goal, at both interpersonal and religious levels of discourse, is to facilitate advance from "object-relating" to "object-usage." Analysis of the transference, arriving at a conception of the divine as a free agent, replaces the concept of fate with a concept of divine grace, interrupting the religious repetition-compulsion. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Infants' Response to Maternal Mirroring in the Still Face and Replay TasksINFANCY, Issue 5 2009Ann E. Bigelow Infants' response to maternal mirroring was investigated in 4-month-old infants. Mother,infant dyads participated in the still face and replay tasks. Infants were grouped by those whose mothers did and did not mirror their behavior in the interactive phases of the tasks. In the still face task, infants with maternal mirroring showed more attention, smiling, and positive vocalizations across the phases, although both groups of infants demonstrated the still-face effect with attention and smiling. Infants' social bidding to the mother during the still-face phase correlated with mothers' mirroring behavior. In the replay task, infants with maternal mirroring demonstrated carryover effects with smiling; infants without maternal mirroring showed no awareness of change in their mothers' behavior. In both the still face and replay tasks, infants with maternal mirroring were more engaged with their mothers. Results suggest that maternal mirroring of infants' behavior affects infants' detection of, and response to, reciprocal interaction. [source] Mother,Infant Person- and Object-Directed Interactions in Latino Immigrant Families: A Comparative ApproachINFANCY, Issue 4 2008Linda R. Cote Cultural variation in durations, relations, and contingencies of mother,infant person-and object-directed behaviors were examined for 121 nonmigrant Latino mother,infant dyads in South America, Latina immigrants from South America and their infants living in the United States, and European American mother,infant dyads. Nonmigrant Latina mothers and infants engaged in person-directed behaviors longer than Latino immigrant or European American mothers and infants. Mother and infant person-directed behaviors were positively related; mother and infant object-related behaviors were related for some cultural groups but not others. Nearly all mother and infant behaviors were mutually contingent. Mothers were more responsive to infants' behaviors than infants were to mothers. Some cultural differences in responsiveness emerged. Immigrant status has a differentiated role in mother,infant interactions. [source] Distinguishing Mother,Infant Interaction From Stranger,Infant Interaction at 2, 4, and 6 Months of AgeINFANCY, Issue 2 2008Ann E. Bigelow Observers watched videotaped face-to-face mother,infant and stranger,infant interactions of 12 infants at 2, 4, or 6 months of age. Half of the observers saw each mother paired with her own infant and another infant of the same age (mother tapes) and half saw each infant paired with his or her mother and with a stranger (infant tapes). Observers were asked to judge which was the mother,infant dyad in each pair. Observers' accuracy improved as infants aged and was above chance for both mother and infant tapes when infants were 6 months. Differences between mother,infant and stranger,infant dyadic communication patterns also emerged as the infants aged. At 6 months, mother,infant dyads had more symmetrical communication and less asymmetrical communication than stranger,infant dyads. [source] Sleep arrangements and night waking at 6 and 12 months in relation to infants' stress-induced cortisol responsesINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2009Rachel Lucas-Thompson Abstract The objective of this short-term longitudinal study was to examine the concurrent and prospective associations of infants' sleep arrangements and night waking with cortisol responses to an inoculation at 6 and 12 months, controlling for several key covariates. To our knowledge, this was the first study to concurrently and prospectively link proximity in sleep arrangements and night waking to physiological stress reactivity. A sample of 92 mother,infant dyads participated in the study when the infants were 6 and 12 months of age, although sample sizes were reduced for some analyses. Both proximal cosleeping arrangements and more frequent night wakings' were associated concurrently with an increased cortisol response to inoculations at both ages. Night waking at 6 months also was associated with a slightly increased cortisol response to inoculation at 12 months. Results aimed at exploring the direction of influence suggested that cosleeping and night waking may influence infant stress physiology rather than the reverse. Adaptive and maladaptive implications of infants' nocturnal experiences and greater stress-induced cortisol responses are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] What do mothers attune to during interactions with their infants?INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2006Carl-Otto Jonsson Abstract There has been considerable theoretical interest in the developmental importance of affect mirroring and attunement, but little empirical attention has been directed toward the topic. The present study systematically explored the sorts of infant behaviour that elicit affect attunement in mothers. Written descriptions of video-recorded sequences of interaction in 27 mother,infant dyads were used to examine 141 instances of affect attunement in samples from Sweden and the former Yugoslavia. Infants were aged between 2 and 12 months. Behaviour that elicited affect attunement from mothers was rated in terms of 10 behavioural themes, which were used to cluster episodes of affect attunement. Cluster analysis suggested that mothers attuned to six distinct forms of infant behaviour: pleasurable motoric behaviour, effect initiation, focusing, loss of balance, uncontrolled behaviour and displeasure. Incidents of affect attunement elicited by categorical affects comprised only 20% of the instances examined. Most importantly, affect attunement was often elicited by infant exploration and play in relation to the non-social world. Affect attunement may function to reinforce and regulate on-going behaviour that is largely explorative in nature. How mothers respond to the infant's interaction with the external, non-social world may be more important for intrapsychic development than previously thought. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Young infants' vocalizations towards mother versus stranger: associations with the infant,mother relationshipINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2005Susanne Völker Abstract Infants' differential vocal response (DVR) towards their mother and a female stranger at 3 months of age has been predominantly investigated as an index of early cognitive functioning. The present study explored the relationship between DVR and different infant and mother indicators of the developing relationship quality in a sample of 23 mother,infant dyads. Mother,infant interactions and stranger,infant interactions were videotaped during home visits when the infants were 3 months old. At the age of 12 months, infants' behaviour was assessed in the Ainsworth's strange situation. In both assessments, mothers noted the infants' behavioural states on 3 successive days. Results revealed a specific relation between DVR and the emotional atmosphere of the early mother,infant interaction. Particularly, DVR was less pronounced in favour of the mother when the mother displayed emotional expressions defined as rejection. DVR is discussed as an index that may indicate both infant emotional engagement and infant cognitive competencies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Maternal unresolved attachment status impedes the effectiveness of interventions with adolescent mothersINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2005Greg Moran Children of adolescent mothers are at risk for a variety of developmental difficulties. In the present study, the effectiveness of a brief intervention program designed to support adolescent mothers' sensitivity to their infants' attachment signals was evaluated. Participants were adolescent mothers and their infants who were observed at 6, 12, and 24 months of age. The intervention conducted by clinically trained home visitors consisted of eight home visits between 6 and 12 months in which mothers were provided feedback during the replay of videotaped play interactions. At 12 months, 57% of the mother,infant dyads in the intervention group and 38% of the comparison group dyads were classified as secure in the Strange Situation. Seventy-six percent of the mothers in the intervention group maintained sensitivity from 6 to 24 months compared with 54% of the comparison mothers. Further analyses indicated that the intervention was effective primarily for mothers who were not classified as Unresolved on the Adult Attachment Interview. [source] Insecure adult attachment style and depressive symptoms: Implications for parental perceptions of infant temperamentINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004Anu-Katriina Pesonen The current study tested associations between parental depressive symptoms, adult attachment styles, and perceptions of infant temperament among 319 mother,infant and 173 father,infant dyads. Depressive symptoms and insecure attachment style among the mothers and/or fathers were associated with perceptions of the infant as temperamentally more negatively and/or less positively tuned. Multivariate analyses of depressive symptoms and attachment styles with perceived temperament suggest that depressive symptoms and perceived temperament remain significantly associated, while the associations between attachment styles and perceived temperament, in most instances, were reduced to nonsignificance. We also tested whether secure attachment among the parents buffered any negatively and/or positively tuned depression-related perceptions, but found no supporting evidence. Even though the study results await replication in longitudinal designs, they nevertheless underline the significance of parental depressive information processing in the perceiving of infant temperament. ©2004 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source] Affect expression in prenatally psychotropic exposed and nonexposed mother,infant dyadsINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002Pratibha N. Reebye This prospective study examined infant, maternal, and dyadic affective profiles at three months postpartum in infant,mother dyads that were exposed to psychotropic medications in utero compared with nonexposed control dyads. Control dyads of nondepressed mothers and their infants showed many similarities in affect expression with mother,infant dyads who were exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) alone for treatment of maternal depression. In contrast, mothers who received SSRIs and Rivotril (Benzodiazepine derivative) for treatment of depression and anxiety expressed both positive and negative affect towards their infants. Clinical implications regarding use of psychotropic medications such as SSRIs alone or in combination with other drugs for treatment of maternal anxiety and depression during pregnancy are discussed. Clinicians should be aware of the possible differential response in maternal,infant interaction in a mixed diagnosis group (i.e., depression and anxiety) regarding infant temperament, possibly suggesting latent behavioral teratogenicity with psychotropics. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source] Maternal substance use and mother,infant feeding interactionsINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2001Rina Das EidenArticle first published online: 2 JUL 200 The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of maternal polydrug cocaine use during pregnancy and associated risk factors such as maternal psychopathology and negative infant temperament on the quality of mother,infant feeding interactions at 2 months of infant age. Participants were 45 mother,infant dyads (19 cocaine-exposed and 26 nonexposed) who were recruited at birth and assessed again 2 months of infant age. Mother,infant interactions during feeding were videotaped and coded with regard to dyadic reciprocity, maternal noncontingency, and dyadic conflict. Results indicated that maternal cocaine use was associated with higher dyadic conflict. Moreover, cocaine-using mothers were also more likely to use marijuana and alcohol, and use of such substances was associated with lower dyadic reciprocity and higher maternal noncontingency during interactions. Results also suggested that one pathway to higher dyadic conflict during interactions among cocaine-using mothers was through the impact of cocaine on infant risk conditions like lower gestational age and negative temperament (e.g., higher distress to novelty). Interventions focusing on promoting the quality of mother,infant interactions in combination with substance abuse treatment may be especially promising for this population. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source] Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E) tool: development and validation with mothers of hospitalized preterm neonatesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2007Christopher R. Barnes Abstract Title.,Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E) tool: development and validation with mothers of hospitalized preterm neonates Aim., This paper is a report of a study to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy tool. Background., Mothers' perceptions of their ability to parent (maternal parenting self-efficacy) is a critical mechanism guiding their interactions with their preterm newborns. A robust measure is needed which can measure mothers' perceptions of their ability to understand and care for their hospitalized preterm neonates as well as being sensitive to the various levels and tasks in parenting. Methods., Using a mixed sampling methodology (convenience or randomized cluster control trial) 165 relatively healthy and hospitalized mother-preterm infant dyads were recruited in 2003,2005 from two intensive care neonatal units in the United Kingdom (UK). Mothers were recruited within the first 28 days after giving birth to a preterm baby. The Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy tool, which is made up of 20 items representing four theorized subscales, was tested for reliability and validity. Results., Internal consistency reliability of the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy tool was 0·91, external/test-retest reliability was 0·96, P < 0·01. Divergent validity using the Maternal Self-Report Inventory was rs = 0·4, P < 0·05 and using the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale was rs = 0·31, P < 0·01. Conclusion., The Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy tool is a psychometrically robust, reliable and valid measure of parenting self-efficacy in mothers of relatively healthy hospitalized preterm neonates. Although application outside the UK will require further cross-cultural validation, the tool has the potential to provide healthcare professionals with a reliable method of identifying mothers of preterm hospitalized babies who are in need of further support. [source] Can pediatricians accurately identify maternal depression at well-child visits?PEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010Hiroki Mishina Abstract Background:, The feasibility of a two-item screening tool for maternal depression in a pediatric setting was recently reported. We assessed whether the accuracy of pediatrician recognition of maternal depression during the one-month well-child visit could be improved by an educational intervention using the two-item screening tool. Methods:, We conducted an educational intervention for pediatric residents in a suburban hospital in Tokyo, Japan, with outcome measurement before and after. Resident education included knowledge about postpartum depression and its impact on children, use of the two-item screening tool and available management strategies. Sixteen pediatric residents examined 267 mother,infant dyads during well-child visits. Residents documented the presence or absence of postpartum depressive symptoms on medical records. Depressive symptoms were also determined using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) survey; residents were not aware of the results. Using the EPDS as a "gold standard," improvement in sensitivity and specificity of resident recognition of maternal depressive symptoms was determined. Results:, The overall prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms based on the EPDS was 15.4%. The sensitivity of resident recognition was 8% and specificity 98% before intervention, and 12% and 96% afterwards, respectively. The difference was not statistically significant. Residents indicated fear of maternal stigmatization and mothers' receptiveness to discussing depressive symptoms, as well as lack of time and skills, as major barriers to the identification of maternal depression. Conclusions:, A simple educational intervention using a two-item screening tool did not improve the pediatrician's accuracy in detecting depressive symptoms in mothers. Additional strategies to address perceived barriers may be needed. [source] Feeding behavior of lactating brown lemur females (Eulemur fulvus) in Mayotte: influence of infant age and plant phenologyAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2006Laurent Tarnaud Abstract Altmann [Baboon Mothers and Infants, University of Chicago Press, 1980] and Dunbar and Dunbar [Animal Behavior 36:970,980, 1988] provided a model that predicts the amount of time spent feeding by lactating baboon females, as related to infant age. Dunbar's model further suggests that food quality affects the amount of time that females devote to feeding activity, and is predictable from rainfall and temperature data. In this study the model was tested with data recorded from births of the Mayotte brown lemur from four maternal dyads (Eulemur fulvus). This study also examines the correlation between female activity budget, quantities of fresh plant matter ingested, and suckling duration using data collected from focal animal samples on the mother,infant dyads. The relationships among rainfall, food supply, and food quality were also tested. It appears that female brown lemurs do not devote more time to feeding during the infant growth period. The data show that female brown lemurs increased their food intake during the early-lactating period when the frequency of suckling is the highest, and before infants begin to eat substantial amounts of solid foods. Thus, the frequency of feeding reflects the cost of lactation better than suckling duration. Furthermore, females did not appear to select foods according to their availability or rainfall levels. I hypothesize that the lack of convergence between lemur data and baboon observations is due to differences between their respective environments and their feeding ecology. These data also indicate that the most significant lactating cost for the brown lemur occurs during the early lactation period. Am. J. Primatol. 68:1,12, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters in Meconium: Are They Biomarkers of Fetal Alcohol Exposure and Effect?ALCOHOLISM, Issue 7 2006Enrique M. Ostrea Jr. Background: Biomarkers of fetal exposure to alcohol are important to establish so that early detection and intervention can be made on these infants to prevent undesirable outcomes. The aim of this study was to analyze long-chain fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in meconium as potential biomarkers of fetal alcohol exposure and effect. Methods: Fatty acid ethyl esters were analyzed in the meconium of 124 singleton infants by positive chemical ionization gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and correlated to maternal ethanol use. Results: A total of 124 mother/infant dyads were enrolled in the study: 31 were in the control group and 93 were in the alcohol-exposed group. The incidence (28% vs 9.7%, p=0.037) of ethyl linoleate detected in meconium was significantly higher in the alcohol-exposed groups than the control groups. Similarly, when the concentrations of ethyl linoleate in meconium were grouped (trichotomized), there was a significant linear by linear association between alcohol exposure and group concentrations of ethyl linoleate (p=0.013). Furthermore, only alcohol-exposed infants were found in the group with the highest ethyl linoleate concentration. The sensitivity of ethyl linoleate in detecting prenatal alcohol exposure was only 26.9%, and its specificity and positive predictive value were 96.8 and 96.2%, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the concentration of ethyl linoleate in meconium and absolute alcohol consumed (oz) per drinking day across pregnancy, although a trend toward a positive correlation is seen at lower amounts of alcohol consumed. Among the polyunsaturated, long-chain FAEEs, there was weak evidence that the incidence (21.5% vs 6.5%, p=0.057) and concentration (p=0.064) of ethyl arachidonate (AA) were significantly higher in the alcohol-exposed groups than the control groups. Ethyl linolenate and ethyl docosahexanoate (DHA) in meconium were found only in the alcohol group, although not at statistically significant levels. Highly significant correlations were found among the concentrations of ethyl linoleate, ethyl linolenate, ethyl AA, and ethyl DHA in meconium (correlations ranged between rs=0.203, p=0.024; and rs=0.594, p<0.001). Conclusion: We conclude that FAEEs in meconium, particularly ethyl linoleate and ethyl AA, are biomarkers of high specificity for prenatal exposure to alcohol in newborn infants. We also propose that ethyl AA and DHA could be potential biomarkers of fetal alcohol effects on the developing fetal brain and should be investigated further. [source] Pregnancy and neonatal characteristics of opioid-dependent Indigenous Australians: A rural and metropolitan comparisonAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Emma TETSTALL Aims: To identify maternal, obstetric and neonatal characteristics of opioid-dependent Indigenous Australians in rural and metropolitan settings. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 232 metropolitan and 67 rural infants born to mothers maintained on methadone throughout pregnancy for the treatment of opiate dependency, between January 2000 and December 2006. Medical records of identified mother/infant dyads were reviewed by evaluating 20 different maternal, obstetric and neonatal parameters. Results: The number of infants of opiate-dependent mothers (IODMs) identified to be of Aboriginal ethnicity was 47 in the rural and 50 in the metropolitan setting. This reflected a significantly higher proportion in the rural versus metropolitan areas (70.1% vs 21.6%, P < 0.05). The effect of rurality was independent of ethnicity with significantly lower rates of neonatal withdrawal requiring treatment (P < 0.001), antenatal consultations (P < 0.01), department of community services (DoCS) involvement (P < 0.001) and shorter infant lengths of stay (P < 0.001). There was a non-significant trend towards more intrauterine growth restriction in Aboriginal infants. There were no significant differences in parameters in rural Indigenous versus rural non-Indigenous infants. Conclusions: Significant differences exist between rural and metropolitan IODMs in terms of less attendance at antenatal consultations, less neonatal withdrawal requiring treatment, shorter average length of hospital stay for the infant and less documented DoCS involvement. These differences maybe a reflection of a different diagnostic and management approach. Ethnicity had no major clinical impact in either the rural or the metropolitan settings. Future research comparing the long-term outcomes would be of interest. [source] | |||||||||||||