Parents' emotional availability and infant emotional competence: Predictors of parent-infant attachment and emerging self-regulation.

One-year-old infants (N=62) and their mothers and fathers were observed in free play and teaching sessions in order to examine parents' emotional availability and the infant's emotional competence. Mothers were more emotionally available than fathers, and infants exhibited more effortful attention with mothers than with fathers. Similar relations between parental emotional availability and infant emotional competence were found for mother-infant and father-infant dyads. Change in parental emotional availability covaried with change in infant emotional competence. Individual differences in parental emotional availability and Infant emotional competence were more consistent across contexts than across parents. Infant effortful attention at 12 months was a mediator between maternal emotional availability at 12 months and toddler situational compliance at 16 months. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsive parenting: Establishing early foundations for social, communication, and independent problem-solving skills.

Mothers whose infants varied in early biological characteristics (born at term, n = 120; born at very low birth weight [VLBW], n = 144) were randomized to a target group (n = 133) or developmental feedback comparison group (n = 131) to determine whether learning responsive behaviors would facilitate infant development. The target condition included videotaped examples, problem-solving activities, and mothers' critique of their own behaviors through video procedures across 10 home visits. All target versus comparison mothers showed greater increases across multiple responsiveness behaviors observed in 4 assessments conducted across 6-13 months of age; changes in emotionally supportive behaviors were strongest for target mothers of infants born at VLBW. Increased maternal responsiveness facilitated greater growth in target infants' social, emotional, communication, and cognitive competence, supporting a causal role for responsiveness on infant development. Although benefits were generally comparable across risk groups, aspects of social and emotional skills showed greater change for those born at VLBW. Evidence for responsiveness as a multidimensional construct was provided as well as the importance of different aspects of responsiveness mediating the effect of the intervention on different infant skill domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing self-care parenting

The interaction between parents and infants is contingent upon the parents' understanding of their infant's behavior and what the infant is trying to communicate through specific behaviors. The Synactive Model of Newborn Behavioral Organization and Development provides a theoretical base to identify and classify infant behaviors. Parents need to have an understanding of sleep/wake states, infant behaviors, and infant cues in order to have a positive parenting experience. The advanced practice nurse has the opportunity to educate parents regarding their infants' behaviors and appropriate interventions, which can lead to increased parental confidence, competence in interacting with their infants, and positive self-care parenting.     

A longitudinal study of preschoolers' language-based bedtime routines, sleep duration, and well-being.

To investigate the associations of caregiver-reported use of language-based bedtime routines among preschoolers at age 3 with children's nighttime sleep duration and cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes at age 5. Furthermore, we wanted to identify whether parental or household characteristics help explain these associations. We used data on 4,274 children from birth to age 5, drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), a longitudinal birth cohort study of at-risk children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 U.S. cities. We used ordinary least squares (for continuous outcomes) and logistic regressions (for dichotomous outcomes) to estimate associations of language-based bedtime routines at age 3 with sleep duration and cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes at age 5, net of a host of child and family background characteristics. After adjustment for child and family characteristics, we observed a positive association between language-based bedtime routines and both nighttime sleep duration and verbal test scores. Language-based bedtime routines were also inversely associated with behavior problems (anxious, withdrawn, and aggressive behaviors) and positively associated with better general health, yet adjustment for family background characteristics attenuated these associations. No associations were found between language-based bedtime routines and obesity. Results were confirmed using propensity score matching. This research suggests regular use of language-based bedtime routines including singing, reading, and/or storytelling at bedtime may have a lasting positive benefit for children's sleep duration and cognitive development; we find little evidence of such a benefit for child behavior or health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

La socialisation des émotions chez le nourrisson: Le r?le du langage maternel.

Investigated the impact of maternal language on infant emotional development during the 1st year. 41 mother-infant dyads participated in 4 episodes of face to face interaction when infants were 1, 2, 6, and 9 mo of age. Analyses of mothers' language indicate that a large proportion of their utterances pertained to infant emotional expressions or states. The referents of maternal language were related to infant behavior at each age level. However, only a few significant correlations were found between mothers' language at 1 and 2 mo and infant emotional expressions at 6 and 9 mo. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' emotional reactions to crying pose risk for subsequent attachment insecurity.

Links between maternal emotional reactions to crying (anger and anxiety) and infant attachment security were examined in 119 mother-infant dyads. Mothers rated the intensity of their emotional responses to videotapes of crying infants prenatally. Maternal sensitivity was observed during infant exposure to emotion eliciting tasks at six and 16 months postpartum and mothers' self-reported on their responses to their infant's negative emotions at 16 months. Infant attachment security was assessed using the Strange Situation at 16 months postpartum. Results indicated that observed sensitivity was associated with fewer avoidant and resistant behaviors and prenatal maternal anger and anxiety in response to infant crying predicted the developing attachment system independent of observed sensitivity, but in different ways. Maternal anxiety in response to crying was positively associated with resistant behaviors as a direct effect. Maternal anger in response to crying was associated with avoidant behaviors indirectly through mothers' self-reported punitive and minimizing responses to infant distress at 16 months. Theoretical, applied, and methodological implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant sleep and parental sleep-related cognitions.

Infant sleep is a major source of distress in many families. The purpose of this study was to assess infant sleep and parental sleep-related cognitions about infant sleep in clinical and control samples. The clinical sample consisted of 48 infants referred to a sleep clinic because of night-wakings problems. The control sample included 48 infants with no parental complaints about sleep difficulties. Sleep of all participating infants was monitored for 1 week with actigraphs and parental daily logs. Parents completed 2 questionnaires testing their cognitions about infant sleep. As expected, significant group differences were found with regard to the sleep-quality measures and parental cognitions. Parental cognitions about difficulties in limit setting were associated with poorer sleep quality. Significant differences were found between fathers and mothers on the cognitions scales. The results highlight the links between parental cognitions and infant sleep and the unique perspective of each parent in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant and Maternal Behaviors Regulate Infant Reactivity to Novelty at 6 Months.

Three issues were investigated: (a) the regulatory effects of presumed infant and maternal regulation behaviors on infant distress to novelty at 6 months, (b) stability of infant regulatory effects across contexts that vary in maternal involvement, and (c) associations and temporal dynamics between infant and maternal regulation behaviors. Participants were 87 low-risk infants and their mothers, observed at 6 months postpartum during infant exposure to novel toys. Contingencies derived from sequential analyses demonstrate that, by 6 months, some infants reduce their own distress to novelty by looking away from the novel toy or self-soothing, maternal engagement and support have comparable effects, and certain infant and maternal behaviors co-occur. Moreover, infants whose mothers engaged contingently when they looked away from the novel toy expressed less distress than comparable infants whose mothers did not. These findings implicate both infants and mothers in the development of emotion regulation during the infant's first year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal directiveness and infant compliance at one year of age: a comparison between mothers and their developmentally-delayed infants and mothers and their nondelayed infants

Maternal directiveness and infant compliance at one year of age were observed in social interactions between mothers and their handicapped and nonhandicapped infants. Eleven nondelayed, typically developing infants, and nine developmentally delayed infants, matched for chronological age, were observed in a free play situation with their mothers. Mothers of the delayed infants attempted to direct their children's play significantly more than those with nondelayed infants, and they engaged more frequently in social play involving physical contact with their infants. Nondelayed infants complied with their mothers' directives more than the developmentally delayed infants. Further study of infant capabilities and maternal affect and behaviors with this age group is suggested.     

Contribution of infants' sleep and crying to marital relationship of first-time parent couples in the 1st year after childbirth.

This study investigated the influence of infants' sleep and crying on marital relationship in first-time parent couples (N = 107) during the 1st year after birth. Control variables are parents' insomnia and parental self-efficacy in handling the baby. Questionnaires were administered to both parents before birth, at 2 and 7 weeks after birth, and at 1 year after birth. Results show that marital problem-solving ability did not change but that marital satisfaction diminished significantly over time. Crying was the main child variable that affected marital satisfaction. Fathers' self-efficacy contributed positively to marital problem solving and negatively to paternal insomnia. Both maternal and paternal insomnia affected spouses' insomnia. As infant sleep problems may worsen preexisting parental insomnia, it is recommended that first-time parents be informed about treatments of insomnia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reliability of monopolar and bipolar fine-wire electromyographic measurement of muscle fatigue

This longitudinal study was designed to examine reciprocal relationships between feeding practices and infant growth over the first 6 mo of life. The following three hypotheses were tested: 1) early feeding practices predict later infant growth; 2) early infant growth predicts later feeding practices; and 3) these relationships occur after controlling for related background variables. The sample included 226 healthy, well-nourished infants born at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown, Barbados. Assessments were made at birth, 7 wk, and 3 and 6 mo of age. Factor analysis of a feeding practices questionnaire for those mothers who attended all three postnatal visits yielded five uncorrelated factors. Three of these factors, preference for breast-feeding, feeding intensity and feeding difficulty, declined with infant age. Two of these factors, father helps and relatives help, increased with infant age. Several background variables, including maternal age, anthropometry and reproductive history, and reliance on outside sources of information were correlated with infant growth. Multivariate analyses confirmed all three hypotheses. The group of feeding practices (particularly the preference for breast-feeding) at 7 wk predicted increases in infant lengths at subsequent ages. Conversely, infant weights at 3 and 6 mo predicted subsequent feeding practices, especially feeding intensity. These reciprocal relationships remained even after statistically controlling for the influence of the background variables. Implications for public policy include the need for comprehensive programs advocating breast-feeding and supporting the general health of mothers and infants.     

Cultural variation in infants' sleeping arrangements: Questions of independence.

Examines the decisions of middle-class US and Highland Mayan parents regarding sleeping arrangements during their child's 1st 2 yrs and their explanations for their differing practices. All 14 Mayan children slept in their mothers' beds into toddlerhood. None of the 18 US infants slept in bed with their mothers on a regular basis as newborns, although 15 slept near their mothers until age 3–6 mo, when most were moved to a separate room. The Mayan parents explained their practices in terms of the value of closeness with infants; US parents explained their practices in terms of the value of independence for infants. US families, but not Mayan families, used bedtime routines and objects to facilitate the transition to sleep. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal feeding practices and childhood obesity: a focus group study of low-income mothers

OBJECTIVE: To identify maternal beliefs and practices about child feeding that are associated with the development of childhood obesity. DESIGN: Four focus groups. One group of dietitians from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the Northern Kentucky Health District and 3 groups of mothers with children enrolled in WIC. SETTING: The WIC program in the Northern Kentucky Health District. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen WIC dietitians and 14 mothers (14 to 34 years of age) with young children (12 to 36 months of age) enrolled in WIC. RESULTS: The mothers in this study (1) believed that it was better to have a heavy infant because infant weight was the best marker of child health and successful parenting, (2) feared that their infants were not getting enough to eat, which led them to introduce rice cereal and other solid food to the diets before the recommended ages, and (3) used food to shape their children's behaviors (eg, to reward good behavior or to calm fussiness). The mothers acknowledged that some of their child-feeding practices went against the advice of their WIC nutritionists and physicians. Instead, the participants relied on their mothers as their main source of information about child feeding. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians and allied health professionals discussing childhood growth with mothers should avoid implying that infant weight is necessarily a measure of child health or parental competence. Parents who use food to satisfy their children's emotional needs or to promote good behavior in their children may promote obesity by interfering with their children's ability to regulate their own food intake. Interventions to alter child-feeding practices should include education of grandmothers.     

Maternal language in infancy.

Observations of 36 preterm infants and their English-speaking mothers suggest that maternal language to the infant varies as a function of the age and ordinal position of the infant and maternal education. The relationship between maternal language at 1 mo of age and the mother's verbal style to her older infant allows for early identification of maternal language input styles and, therefore, has important implications for mother–infant intervention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infants' social-constructive interactions with mothers and fathers.

Four parent–infant joint-action variables were derived by combining parents' vocal or object-stimulation behaviors with infants' vocal or object-directed behaviors observed in the home setting. Measures of simultaneous vocalization, joint-object play, parent-vocalize/infant-object play, and infant-vocalize/parent-object stimulation were constructed to represent social-construction experiences in which shared actions between infants and parents are thought to contribute to infants' cognitive development. The analyses (based on 66 infants and their parents) focused on the normative changes and stability of individual differences of these measures from 6 to 12 months and their relations with 30-month cognitive-development status. The durations of all measures increased with age. All joint-action measures showed consistency across time, and the 12-month mother–infant (but not father–infant) joint-action measures were strongly related with 30-month McCarthy scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working and nonworking mothers with infants: Perceptions of their careers, their infants' needs, and satisfaction with mothering.

Examined the attitudinal differences and commonalities of 59 working and 71 nonworking mothers of 3-mo-old infants. Interviews and the Maternal Attitude Scale were used to obtain information about mothers' perceptions of infant needs, their beliefs about their own career-related needs, and their satisfaction with mothering. Significant group differences were determined on separation-related issues: Working mothers perceived less infant distress at separation, were less anxious about separation, and were less apprehensive about other care-givers. Career orientation and maternal satisfaction were related to beliefs about infant needs in both working and nonworking groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing a family intervention hypothesis: The contribution of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) to family interaction, proximity, and touch.

The provision of maternal-infant body contact during a period of maternal separation was examined for its effects on parent-infant and triadic interactions. Participants were 146 three-month-old preterm infants and their parents, half of whom received skin-to-skin contact, or kangaroo care (KC), in the neonatal nursery. Global relational style and micropatterns of proximity and touch were coded. Following KC, mothers and fathers were more sensitive and less intrusive, infants showed less negative affect, and family style was more cohesive. Among KC families, maternal and paternal affectionate touch of infant and spouse was more frequent, spouses remained in closer proximity, and infant proximity position was conducive to mutual gaze and touch during triadic play. The role of touch as a constituent of the co-regulatory parent-infant and triadic systems and the effects of maternal contact on mothering, co-parenting, and family processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction of acidosis in dialysis patients increases branched-chain and total essential amino acid levels in muscle

The following four issues were assessed in a group of 110 adults between the age of 20 and 59y: (1) the effect of age (regarded as a continuous variable) on polysomnographic sleep characteristics, habitual sleep-diary patterns, and subjective sleep quality; (2) the effects of age on morningness-eveningness; (3) the effects of morningness-eveningness on sleep, after controlling for the effects of age; and (4) the role of morningness-eveningness as a mediator of the age and sleep relationship. Increasing age was related to earlier habitual waketime, earlier bedtime, less time in bed and better mood and alertness at waketime. In the laboratory, increasing age was associated with less time asleep, increased number of awakenings, decreased sleep efficiency, lower percentages of slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, higher percentages of Stage 1 and 2, shorter REM latency and reduced REM activity and density. Increasing age was also associated with higher morningness scores. After controlling for the effects of age, morningness was associated with earlier waketime, earlier bedtime, less time in bed, better alertness at waketime, less time spent asleep, more wake in the last 2 h of sleep, decreased REM activity, less stage REM (min and percentage), more Stage 1 (min and percentage) and fewer minutes of Stage 2. For one set of variables (night time in bed, waketime, total sleep time, wake in the last 2 h of sleep and minutes of REM and REM activity), morningness-eveningness accounted for about half of the relationship between age and sleep. For another set of variables (bedtime, alertness at waketime, percentages of REM and Stage 1), morningness-eveningness accounted for the entire relationship between age and sleep. In conclusion, age and morningness were both important predictors of the habitual sleep patterns and polysomnographic sleep characteristics of people in the middle years of life (20-59 y).     

Intimate partner violence moderates the association between mother–infant adrenocortical activity across an emotional challenge.

This study examined the relationship between mother and infant adrenocortical levels and reactivity to an emotion eliciting task. The impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on these relationships was assessed as a moderator. The sample (n = 702 mother–infant dyads) was racially diverse and from predominantly low-income, rural communities. During a home visit, the dyad’s saliva was sampled before, 20 min, and 40 min after standardized tasks designed to elicit the infant’s emotional arousal and later assayed for cortisol. Mothers completed self-report measures of their partner’s violence, and parenting behaviors were assessed via structured interview and mother–child interactions. In response to the task, infants had positive, and mothers had negative, cortisol slopes. Contrary to expectations, there were no IPV-related differences in mean pretask cortisol levels or reactivity in the mothers or infants. Mother–infant dyads from households characterized by either (1) violence or (2) restrictive and punitive parenting behaviors exhibited correlated cortisol reactivity measured in response to the infant challenge task. The findings suggest that social contextual features of the early caregiving environment may influence individual differences in the coordination between maternal and infant adrenocortical reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)