The arts and human nature: evolutionary aesthetics and the evolutionary role of australopithecines’ mother–infant interactions

The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of sensory stimulation program administered by primipara on the physical growth and mother-infant feeding interaction for the first 6 months of infancy. Data were collected from December 1, 2001 to June 30, 2003. A total of 35 mothers and their infants were assigned to a control (n=17) and an experimental (n=18) group. Mothers in the experimental group received education related to sensory stimulation program and administered to their infants twice a day for 6 months. Both groups were measured the weight, length, head circumference and chest circumference of infants at 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 14 weeks, 18 weeks, and 22 weeks and the mother-infant feeding interaction at 6 weeks, 10 weeks through the home visiting. Compared to the control group, the experimental group had significantly larger increases in head circumference for intervention period. In addition to, the experimental group showed significantly higher score in mother-infant interaction than control group. These data suggested that sensory stimulation program administered by primipara may improve the physical growth of full term infant and mother-infant feeding interaction.

Mother–infant interactions during feeding and play are pivotal experiences in the development of infants’ early social abilities (Stern, 1985, 1995; Biringen, 2000). Stern indicated distinctive characteristics of mother–infant interactions, respectively, during feeding and play, suggesting to evaluate both to better describe the complexity of such early affective and social experiences (Stern, 1996). Moreover, during the first years of life, infants acquire cognitive and social skills that allow them to interact with new social partners in extra-dyadic interactions. However, the relations between mother–child interactions and infants’ social skills in extra-dyadic interactions are still unknown. We investigated longitudinally the relations between mother–child interactions during feeding and play and child’s pre-verbal communicative abilities in extra-dyadic interactions during play. 20 dyads were evaluated at T1 (infants aged between 9–22 months) and 6 months later, at T2. The interdyadic differences in mother–infant interactions during feeding and play were evaluated, respectively, with the “Feeding Scale” (Chatoor et al., 1997) and with the “Play Scale” (Chatoor, 2006) and the socio-communicative abilities of children with a new social partner during play were evaluated with the “Early Social Communication Scales” (Mundy et al., 2003). We distinguished the dyads into two categories: dyads with functional interactions (high dyadic reciprocity, low dyadic conflict) and dyads with dysfunctional interactions (lower dyadic reciprocity, higher dyadic conflict). At T1, infants belonging to dyads with dysfunctional interactions were significantly lower in “Initiating Joint Attention” and in “Responding to Joint Attention” in interaction with a new social partner compared to the infants belonging to dyads with functional interactions. At T2, infants belonging to dyads with dysfunctional interactions were significantly lower in “Initiating Social Interactions” with a new social partner compared to the infants belonging to dyads with functional interactions. There were significant correlations between the quality of mother–infant interactions during feeding and infants’ social abilities in interaction with a stranger both at T1 and at T2. This study showed a stable relation over time between mother–child interactions and child’s social communicative skills in extra-dyadic interactions.

Maternal mentalization refers to a mother’s capacity to understand mental-states of herself and her child and to regard her child as a psychological agent. In mother-infant interactions, this capacity is commonly conceptualized as maternal mind-mindedness, which can be divided into two dimensions: appropriate and nonattuned interpretations of the infants’ mental-states. Appropriate mind-mindedness refers to interpretations that seem to be compatible with the infant’s behaviors, whereas nonattuned mind-mindedness refers to noncompatible interpretations. The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to mind-mindedness. Specifically, we investigated the role of executive functions in appropriate and nonattuned mind-mindedness, and the moderating roles of two infant-related factors, prematurity (as a stressful context) and child temperament (as a context of unpredictability and negative emotionality). To this end, mother-infant free play interactions were coded for mind-mindedness in a sample of 102 mothers and their 6-month-old infants (61 preterm, 41 full-term). When children were 66-months old, mothers completed cognitive tasks that assessed working memory updating, resistance to interference, response inhibition, and shifting. Appropriate mind-mindedness was positively associated with updating, and this link was stronger when infant temperament was rated as more difficult. Furthermore, among mothers of full-term infants, mothers’ resistance to interference was negatively associated with nonattuned mind-mindedness. This link was not evident in the stressful context of premature birth. Mothers’ response inhibition and shifting were not associated with either of the mind-mindedness dimensions. Implications on understanding variability in maternal mentalization during mother-infant interactions and the roles of executive functions in parenting are discussed.

Integrated Mother–Premature Infant Intervention and Mother–Infant Interaction at 6‐Week Corrected Age

The intent of this longitudinal descriptive correlational study is to investigate the change of the mother-infant interactions over the periods of one month, three months and six months of the infant's age. This study is also intended to explore the interrelationships among three major factors--the perception of pregnancy, the mother-infant interaction and the maternal attitude. The samples participated are 36 pairs of mother and infant from two university hospitals in Seoul. A data collection was made, from October in 1988 to September in 1989, for each subject at five periods of time; prenatal period (after 36 weeks in pregnancy), postpartum two or three days, one month, three months and six months of infant's age. The research tools used in this investigation are Mother-Infant Play Interaction Scale (MIPIS), Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire and Cohler's Maternal Attitude Scale. Some of the findings are as follows; 1. There is a significant increase in the mother-infant interaction from one month to three months and six months of infant's age. The highest score of the mother-infant interaction during three periods is at the time of three months. 2. The primipara's mother-infant interaction is not affected by the demographic characteristics, such as age, education and vocation of mother, types of delivery, or sex of infant. 3. Among seven categories of the perception of pregnancy, the most positively perceived categories by primiparas are acceptance of pregnancy and identification of a motherhood role; whereas the negative ones are preparation for labor, concern for well-being of self and baby, and fear of pain, helplessness and loss of control in order of negativity. 4. There is no significant relationship between the perception of pregnancy and the mother-infant interactions. 5. There is no significant change in the maternal attitude over the period of one month, three months, and six months of infant's age. 6. There is no significant relationship between the maternal attitude and the mother-infant interactions. 7. The significant relationships are found between the perception of pregnancy and maternal attitude, especially in the categories of concern for well-being of self and baby, acceptance of pregnancy, identification of a motherhood role, fear of pain, helplessness and loss of control, and relationship with husband. In conclusion, it is confirmed that primipara's mother-infant interactions change over time period, and that perception of pregnancy and the maternal attitude do not affect the mother-infant interactions despite a significant relationship between those two variables.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Infants at elevated likelihood for autism (EL infants) have varied developmental outcomes. This exposes parents to a unique parenting journey, and in some, heightened psychological stress. This study investigated how maternal psychological stress is linked to variations in mother-infant interactions, specifically touch. We focused on mothers of EL infants, including infants with an older autistic sibling and infants born preterm (< 30 weeks), as well as mothers of infants at typical likelihood for autism (TL infants). At 10 months, maternal touch was coded during mother-infant interactions (n = 100) and psychological stress was measured using the Brief Symptom Inventory (n = 108). Results showed that mothers of sibling infants (n = 44) reported higher depressive symptoms compared to mothers of TL infants (n = 22). Mothers of preterm infants (n = 39) used less affectionate and caregiving touch and had shorter total touch duration, compared to mothers of TL infants (n = 20), and to a lesser extent, mothers of sibling infants (n = 41). In addition, mothers of sibling infants exhibited more high-intensity touch than both mothers of preterm and TL infants. Notably, increased depressive symptoms were associated with decreased touch duration in mothers of sibling (n = 41) and preterm infants (n = 39) only. These findings underscore the complex relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and maternal use of touch.

Infant massage improves mother–infant interaction for mothers with postnatal depression

Effect of situation on mother–infant interaction

Thirty-three families, each with a premature infant born less than 33 gestational weeks, were observed in a longitudinal exploratory study. Infants were recruited in a neonatal intensive care unit, and follow-up visits took place at 4 months and 12 months of corrected age. The severity of the perinatal problems was evaluated using the Perinatal Risk Inventory (PERI; A.P. Scheiner & M.E. Sexton, 1991). At 4 months, mother-infant play interaction was observed and coded according to the CARE-index (P.M. Crittenden, 2003); at 12 months, the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP; M.D.S. Ainsworth, M.C. Blehar, E. Waters, & S. Wall, 1978) was administered. Results indicate a strong correlation between the severity of perinatal problems and the quality of attachment at 12 months. Based on the PERI, infants with high medical risks more frequently tended to be insecurely attached. There also was a significant correlation between insecure attachment and dyadic play interaction at 4 months (i.e., maternal controlling behavior and infant compulsive compliance). Moreover, specific dyadic interactive patterns could be identified as protective or as risk factors regarding the quality of attachment. Considering that attachment may have long-term influence on child development, these results underline the need for particular attention to risk factors regarding attachment among premature infants.

Primary objective: Studies have documented mother–infant interactions in the context of maternal Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) to be unpredictable and disordered. However, no studies have directly compared mother–infant interaction between women with BPD and other psychiatric disorders. Methods: The current study examined mother–infant interactions in the context of women with BPD, major depressive disorder (MDD), their co-occurrence and healthy controls. Mother–infant interactions were coded for mother and infant behaviour across a variety of behavioural dimensions. Main outcomes and results: Group differences emerged on the domains of maternal smiling, maternal touching, maternal game playing, maternal imitation, infant smiling, infant vocalisation and infant gaze aversion. Conclusion: Differences in mother–infant interactions can be reliably observed across varying forms of psychopathology. Such observed differences may be used to improve clinical treatment of mothers with psychopathology.

There is evidence for a deleterious effect of maternal mental illness on mother–infant interaction. Presence of mental illness and lowered maternal cognitive function independently predict quality of interaction, but their combined effect on interaction is unclear. A pilot study was conducted to explore the relationship between maternal serious mental illness (SMI), cognitive function, and mother–infant interaction. Six mothers with SMI (two with schizophrenia and four with depression) and 12 mothers with no psychiatric history were recruited, together with their infants (all aged between 5 and 18 weeks). Mother–infant interaction was assessed using the Crittenden Care Index. The Cognitive Drug Research computerised assessment battery provided measures of memory and attention. In support of previous literature, mothers with SMI were significantly less sensitive during interactions with their infants. They also demonstrated impairment relative to controls on an index of speed of memory processing. A hierarchical regression model revealed that presence of maternal mental illness was a significant predictor of maternal sensitivity, but when speed of memory processing was accounted for, the strength of this relationship was reduced, suggesting that the relationship between maternal mental illness and mother–infant interaction may be partially mediated by level of cognitive function. Further study is warranted.

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of infant massage (auditory (mother's voice), tactile/kinesthetic (massage) and visual (eye to eye contact) stimulation) on weight and height of infant and mother-infant interaction with normal infants over a period of 4 weeks. This study was designed as a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The experimental group infants (aged 2-6 months) participated in one of the infant massage programs at the health district center for 4 weeks. The control group (N=26) was paired with the experimental group (N=26) by matching the infant's age and sex. Infant weight, height, and mother-infant interaction were measured two times and recordings of the mother-infant interaction were done using the video equipment in a room at the health center for 10 minutes. After 4 weeks of massage, there were no significant differences weight gain and height increase between the two groups. Comparison of the total scores for the mother-infant interaction between the two groups showed a significant difference (t=5.21, p=.000). There were also significant differences on maternal response (t=3.78, p=000), infant response (t=5.71, p=000) and dyadic response (t=4.05, p=000) in the mother-infant interaction between the two groups. Overall, the results of this study reassure that infant massage facilitates the mother-infant interaction for infants and mothers who give massage to their baby.

To examine group differences and longitudinal trajectories in mother-infant interactions following an interim clinical diagnosis of high risk of CP up to 15 months corrected age. This prospective observational study followed infants born in Denmark with (n = 23) or without (n = 36) identified high risk of cerebral palsy and their parents over time. Mother-infant interactions were assessed at 15 weeks, 9 months, and 15 months using the Coding Interactive Behavior manual. Group differences and trajectories in mother-infant interactions were analyzed using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) with bootstrapping to obtain robust estimates RESULTS: At 15 weeks (T1), the high-risk CP group differed significantly from the comparison group on all observed interactional dimensions, showing lower levels of maternal acknowledging (b = -0.93, p < .001), infant social initiation (b = -0.54, p = .007), and dyadic reciprocity (b = -0.58, p = .041), and higher levels of maternal intrusiveness (b = 1.04, p < .001) and dyadic constriction (b = 0.73, p = .018). While differences in maternal acknowledging and dyadic reciprocity were only present at 15 weeks, maternal intrusiveness and infant social initiation differences were present at 15 weeks and 15 months. Dyadic constriction differences were present across all time points. Early differences in mother-infant interaction between dyads with and without infant CP risk underscore the importance of tailoring interventions to read and respond to subtle infant cues. Supporting the parent-infant relationship from early infancy might enhance the effectiveness of early intervention and promote more optimal socio-emotional development.

Patterns of mother–infant interaction from 3 to 12 months among dyads with substance abuse and psychiatric problems

Our previous research using Octodon degus (degus) revealed that preweaning social isolation negatively affected object exploratory behavior. However, it remains unknown how social isolation affects animal psychology and other behaviors. The present study examined the effects of neonatal social isolation on degu emotion and mother–infant interactions before and after weaning. Because degus have a complex social repertoire, we predicted that they would be sensitive to social isolation and show similarities with humans in their social interaction. Pups in the isolation group were separated from their family seven times for 30 min a day from 8 to 15 days post-birth. Pups in the nonisolation group were reared with their family. At 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 weeks of age, pups underwent a zero-maze test to measure anxiety and a mother–infant interaction test to assess mother–infant attachment. Isolated pups showed more activity in the zero-maze test than nonisolated pups at 3 weeks of age. We found no significant effects of social isolation on mother–infant interactions. These results suggest that while neonatal social isolation might affect emotion during weaning, it does not influence mother–infant relationships.