Infant irritability and early mother-infant reciprocity patterns

Abstract

This study investigated how various forms of neonatal irritability (at 3 days) and irritability at 10 weeks are related to reciprocal interactions between mothers and their infants. Fifty-six fullterm, first-born male infants were examined using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS-K) at 3 days postpartum. Each infant was rated for irritability to aversive stimuli, general irritability, consolability and responsiveness to visual–auditory stimuli. At 10 weeks of age, during a home visit, mother–infant reciprocity was scored for gaze, smile, vocalization and hold behaviors. Based upon maternal reports and behavioral observations, infant irritability was scored at 10 weeks using the NBAS-K scoring system. Findings revealed that: (1) there were two distinct forms of reciprocity: social and physical; (2) general irritability at 3 days was negatively related to reciprocal hold interaction and positively related to reciprocal social interaction at 10 weeks, and (3) neonatal irritability to aversive stimuli (at 3 days) was positively related to subsequent reciprocal social interaction. Regression analyses showed that neonatal variables were the foremost predictors of reciprocal hold at 10 weeks. Findings are discussed in terms of (1) the need to differentiate between social and physical behavioral patterns, and (2) time-lag effects with respect to mother–infant interactions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.