Maternal learned helplessness and physiologic response to infant crying.

Exposed 49 mothers of 3–4 mo old infants to varying degrees of control over the termination of a tape of infant crying. Each S received 1 of 3 instrumental pretreatments: (a) escape—4 buttonpresses terminated the infant cry, (b) inescape—buttonpress was unrelated to cry termination, and (c) control—mothers passively listened to the cry. Following pretreatment, each S was given an instrumental shuttlebox task consisting of a solvable task with an alternation response that controlled cry termination. Cardiac responses were monitored throughout the session. Ss pretreated with inescapable infant crying showed debilitated performance on the 2nd task. Failure to escape, number of trials to escape criterion, and latency of response to the cry were all greater for the inescape group. In addition, only Ss with prior experience controlling the cry showed cardiac deceleration, an index of attentional processing, during a 10-sec anticipatory period preceding the cry episode of the solvable instrumental task. These cardiac data provide evidence that the important behavioral differences may in part be attributable to differential processing of cues signaling the onset of crying. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal deprivation potentiates pituitary-adrenal stress responses in infant rats.

Examined the effect of maternal deprivation on the pituitary-adrenal response of 12-, 16-, and 20-day-old rat pups to novelty stress. Infants were either deprived individually in heated incubators or left in the home nest with their mother and then tested for corticosteroid response to 30-min exposure to a novel test arena. In Exp 1, the magnitude of the stress response (SR) was a positively accelerated function of the deprivation interval. SRs were not increased after 1 hr of deprivation, were modestly increased after 8 hrs of deprivation, and were dramatically increased after 24 hrs of deprivation. Exp 2 investigated whether potentiation of the SR resulted from the maternal or the nutritive components of the deprivation procedure. Pups were tested under 1 of 4 treatment conditions formed by a 2 (Maternally Deprived vs Nondeprived)?×?2 (Nutritively Deprived vs Nondeprived) factorial design. At 12 and 16 days of age, potentiation of the SR was traced to the absence of maternal care and not nutrients. At 20 days of age, both maternal and nutritive deprivation contributed to the potentiated SR. Exp 3 showed that this effect was mediated by increased adrenocortical sensitivity to ACTH, because the corticosteroid response to exogenous ACTH administration was also increased by maternal deprivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal emotional availability at bedtime predicts infant sleep quality.

In the present study, linkages were examined between parental behaviors (maternal practices) at bedtime, emotional availability of mothering at bedtime, and infant sleep quality in a cross-sectional sample of families with infants between 1 and 24 months of age. Observations of maternal behaviors and maternal emotional availability were conducted independently by 2 sets of trained observers who were blind to data being coded by the other. With infant age statistically controlled, specific maternal behaviors at bedtime were unrelated to infant sleep disruptions at bedtime and during the night. By contrast, emotional availability of mothering at bedtime was significantly and inversely related to infant sleep disruption, and, although these links were stronger for younger infants, they were significant for older infants as well. Maternal emotional availability was also inversely linked with mothers' ratings of whether their infants had sleep difficulties. These findings demonstrate that parents' emotional availability at bedtimes may be as important, if not more important, than bedtime practices in predicting infant sleep quality. Results support the theoretical premise that parents' emotional availability to children in sleep contexts promotes feelings of safety and security and, as a result, better-regulated child sleep. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal self-efficacy, knowledge of infant development, sensory sensitivity, and maternal response during interaction.

When their infants were 6 months of age, mothers were assessed for self-efficacy (low, moderate, and high illusory control) and knowledge of infant development to determine their impact on mothers' behavioral sensitivity and affect during a feeding task at 9 months (N=70). Mothers' sensory sensitivity to digital images of infants' negative and positive expressions assessed in a signal detection task at 6 months was hypothesized to mediate this relation. Mothers with moderate illusory control exhibited greatest behavioral sensitivity and positive affect. Low knowledge was associated with reduced sensitivity for mothers with low illusory control only. When viewing the negative expression, mothers with moderate illusory control and high knowledge exhibited greatest sensory sensitivity, and mothers with high illusory control and moderate/high knowledge were least sensitive. Although sensory sensitivity was not a mediating variable, its relation to both illusory control and subsequent maternal measures during feeding was informative. Although greater sensory sensitivity predicted more sensitive behavior and more positive affect, only for maternal affect was the relation independent of illusion of control effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

World trends in infant feeding

Analysis of the dyadic nature (nutritional, psychological, and biological interaction between mother and infant with each affecting the other) and the economics of infant feeding strongly suggests the superiority of breastfeeding over artificial feeding, regardless of the socioeconomic status of societies. Universally, there are 3 main guidelines for scientifically guided biological infant feeding: 1) to feed the pregnant and lactating mothers with a mixed diet of locally available foods; 2) to breastfeed alone for 4 to 6 months, and 3) to introduce least cost weaning foods based on the concept of multimixes from 4 to 6 months onward, preferably prepared from locally available foods but with continuing lactation into the second year of life, particularly in poorer circumstances. Widespread increases in breastfeeding will protect some 10 million infants annually against marasmus and diarrheal diseases, some 1 million cases against infantile obesity and 100,000 cases against cow's milk allergy. The basic issue involved is the development of practical programs which would improve the pattern of breastfeeding or at least minimize its decline, and to optimize the quantity and quality of milk production, particularly by maternal feeding. This can be done by instituting changes in the emphasis in the education of health professionals, and in procedures at pediatric wards and maternity units in hospitals. The promotion and advertising of infant formulas, especially in poor areas, needs monitoring, and appropriate legislation and enforcement. Lactating mothers who are working should be provided with bonuses, creches, 'nursing pauses' in industry, and other methods which will encourage them to combine the roles of motherhood and salaried worker effectively. Interdisciplinary undertakings between economists, administrators and health professionals are needed in order to improve breastfeeding patterns on a community basis. Reappraisal of modern infant feeding practices should be based on modern scientific knowledge, awareness of successful traditional time-tested adaptation, and on man's ancient biological mammalian heritage.     

The right angle. Otitis media and infant feeding position

Analysis of continuous education of physicians in Dagestan helped the author distinguish the main trends in its development. They include development and introduction of a system of continuous professional and economic education of physicians; improving the planning and prediction of need in advanced medical training; development and introduction of a system of control of continuous education of physicians; stimulation the introduction of modern equipment and technologies in practical medicine; creation of scientific and information provision for continuous education of physicians. Special attention is paid to introduction of novel didactic systems, information technologies, forms and methods of advanced medical training.     

Maternal adjustment and infant outcome in medically defined high-risk pregnancy.

Biological and psychosocial risk factors in high-risk pregnancy and their relation to infant developmental outcomes were explored in a sample of 153 pregnant Israeli women who had pregestational diabetes melfitus, gestational diabetes mellitus, or were nondiabetic. Questionnaires on coping and resources as well as well-being and distress during the 2nd trimester were administered. Estimates of maternal fuels (HbAlc and fructosamine) were obtained throughout pregnancy. At 1 year, offspring were administered the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and mother-infant interactions were observed. Infants of mothers in the diabetic groups scored lower on the Bayley Scales and revealed fewer positive and more negative behaviors than did infants of mothers in the nondiabetic group. Infant outcomes in the maternal diabetic groups were associated with maternal metabolism. Maternal coping and resources differed in the 3 groups and differentially predicted infant development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

State variations in the newborn and mother–infant interaction during breast feeding: Some sex differences.

30 male and 33 female newborns were observed being breast-fed in the maternity ward. The conditional probabilities of various maternal and infant behaviors were studied when the infant was in 1 of 4 states: asleep, drowsy, fussy, and crying. Although male dyads showed more interactive activity on the asleep end of the scale, female dyads showed more interactive activity on the awake end of the scale. These interaction episodes were characterized by greater physical proximity in male dyads and more social interaction in female dyads. Although male neonates spent less time than females in the fussy state, when they were in this state, they seemed to be more agitated than the females. A relatively high proportion of simultaneous vocalization was observed in dyads of both sexes during the fussy state. Results are qualified by the great individual differences observed among the neonates in the amount of time spent in each of the states. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal and infant temperamental predictors of attachment: A meta-analytic review.

Because of the possible implications of infant–mother attachment for later adjustment, we examined the extent to which it could be predicted by mother interactional variables and infant proneness to distress. The meta-analysis demonstrated that sensitive, responsive maternal interaction predicted the security of attachment in Ainsworth and Wittig's (1969) "strange situation." However, the strength of the relation was less than many narrative reviews have suggested. Proneness to distress, which is conceptualized as a temperamental variable, predicted resistance, which is a behavioral pattern in the strange situation that is thought to indicate one variety of insecure attachment. The strength of this association was low but was roughly comparable to that in the maternal domain. In both the maternal and infant domains, we attempted to predict the effect sizes by study characteristics such as method of assessment, sample composition, and age of subjects at the time of study. The pattern of results highlights several continuing methodological problems in the field and suggests that additional explanatory concepts are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An event recorder for infant feeding research

An Event Recorder program was developed for the HP 48 calculator to record the durational events associated with breastfeeding behavior. The Event Recorder menu structure is flexible and allows for the recording of response variables such as menstrual history and fertility symptoms. A Windows program was written in Visual C++ to give a graphical representation of the time-series data and to extract useful measures of breastfeeding activity from the raw data for each 24-h day postpartum. These time varying covariates include the mean and median bout length, median interbout interval, breastfeeding frequency and total 24-h suckling duration. The HP 48 calculator has proven to be a robust instrument for the self-recording of breastfeeding data collected as part of a prospective study on the factors that maintain postpartum amenorrhea. We have found also that the behavioral data collected are easily transferred electronically each month when our field workers make home visits.     

Varicella during pregnancy. Maternal and fetal effects

To determine the characteristics of maternal varicella at our institution, we reviewed all cases of primary varicella in pregnancy. Using a perinatal database that summarizes all obstetric admissions, we reviewed the medical records of women with varicella infections during pregnancy. Over a 5 1/2-year period, 31 pregnancies were affected by varicella infection among 11,753 deliveries. The mean age of those patients was 19.6 years, significantly different from our overall population of 25.3 years (P < .05). The racial composition of 35% Hispanic, 35% white, and 29% African American was different from that of our general population of 55% white, 38% African American, and 6% Hispanic (P = .023). The mean gestational age of the eruption of vesicles was 25 weeks. Of the 31 women, 7 had preterm labor within a week of their varicella, 3 delivered prematurely, and 3 infants had a birth weight of less than 2,700 grams. Respiratory symptoms developed in 6 women, and pneumonia developed in 4, 2 of whom required ventilatory support, 1 for 5 days, the other for 49 days. Eight women received acyclovir during gestation, and none suffered sequelae. In all, 6 infants had lesions and anomalies noted at birth, 5 possibly associated with varicella. Varicella infection is associated with a greater-than-expected level of both maternal and fetal morbidity. The fetal disease may occur due to maternal infection at any gestation and is most likely a spectrum of complications. The maternal disease appears to be worse in the latter half of pregnancy. Programs of prevention through vaccination must account for a possibly decreased level of immunity in different populations.     

Maternal influences on ontogeny of suckling and feeding rhythms in the rat.

Conducted 4 experiments to assess the effects of both maternal and endogenous factors on the ontogeny of nocturnal feeding in the rat. Day and night weight gain was determined in the sighted or blind litters of sighted or blind Sprague-Dawley dams and in young weaned at 15 days of age. It is concluded that sighted dams impose a diurnal milk-intake pattern on their young. The nocturnal patterns of solid-food intake began at 19 days of age. Blind litters also displayed nocturnal feeding when kept with sighted dams, but only until 35 days of age. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual lateralization during feeding in pigeons.

In a quasi-natural feeding situation, adult pigeons had to detect and consume 30 food grains out of about 1,000 pebbles of similar shape, size, and color within 30 s under monocular conditions. With the right eye seeing, the animals achieved a significantly higher discrimination accuracy and, consequently, a significantly higher proportion of grains grasped than with the left eye seeing. This result supports previous demonstrations of a left-hemisphere dominance for visually guided behavior in birds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancement of feeding produced by stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamus.

Following 24 hrs of food deprivation, 39 male hooded Long-Evans rats were subjected to low-level electrical stimulation in the ventromedial hypothalamus. Stimulation produced a 20% increase in the mean amount of food eaten during a 100-sec interval. This effect was eliminated when Ss were allowed to ingest more than 1 g of food immediately prior to testing. The increase in rate of feeding was most reliable with electrode placements in, or touching the edge of, the ventromedial nucleus (VMN). Suppression of feeding was observed during stimulation through the same electrodes at higher current levels, but the lowest thresholds for suppression were associated with placements dorsal and lateral to the VMN. Data support the suggestion that the ventromedial hypothalamus contains a neural mechanism which facilitates feeding. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The sucking reflex: The effects of long feeding vs. short feeding on the behavior of a human infant.

"In order to investigate the effects of long feeding time and short feeding time on non-nutritive sucking and other behavioral variables in the newborn infant, a three-week-old child was given a series of long feedings and short feedings over a period of approximately 30 days… . It was found that more non-nutritive sucking occurred during the long feeding sessions. In addition, more crying, more general restlessness, and more difficulty in sleeping occurred during the long feeding periods… . The hypothesis that nonnutritive sucking results from inadequate use of the sucking response was not supported by the data in this study." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)