Caretaking Behaviors Research Articles

Editorial

In many primates, infants possess distinctive coloration that changes as a function of age. This colour is thought to serve the purpose of eliciting caretaking behaviour from the mother as well as other conspecifics. The present study investigated the responses of adult female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) to pictures of infant faces in relation to infant age and facial coloration. Study animals were shown digitized images of neonates and 5–6-month-old infants displaying either unaltered facial colour, pink neonatal colour, or novel (green) facial colour. While infant and neonate faces of all colours elicited the attention of adult females, pink neonatal facial coloration did not appear to be especially attractive to subjects in contrast with the findings from an earlier study [Higley, J.D., Hopkins, W.D., Hirsch, R.M. Marra, L.M. Suomi S.J., 1987. Preferences of female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) for infantile coloration. Dev. Psychobiol. 20, 7–18]. The results suggest that infant facial colour is not particularly important in mediating infant attractiveness to rhesus macaque females as previously suggested or that other infantile facial characteristics might be more important than colour in eliciting caretaking behaviours amongst females.

Community Assessment and Planning for Maternal and Child Health Programs: A Participatory Approach in Ethiopia

This paper describes the use of a participatory approach to community assessment and planning in Ethiopia. The purpose of the assessment was for government health staff and community members to jointly identify and prioritize maternal and child health problems and develop a plan to solve them. Activities were conducted in five “woredas” (districts) in the Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s Region of Ethiopia. Some of the key features of the approach were: 1) use of a limited number of maternal and child health behaviors as a “menu” to guide planning; 2) use of an integrated household survey that measures indicators of caretaker behaviors which must be changed to reduce the most important causes of childhood morbidity and mortality; 3) implementation by a team of community volunteers and health staff; 4) collection of data that can be used at the community level for planning and at district zonal and regional levels for project monitoring and evaluation; and 5) an emphasis on immediate use of information by community members and health staff to produce joint action plans. The community planning process resulted in: 1) community action plans for the communities in five districts; 2) baseline data on key behaviors for monitoring and evaluation; and 3) trained staff at regional zonal and district levels. Community action plans included activities at both the facility and community levels such as training of health workers integration of health facility services health education and involvement of community organizations. The quantitative data were aggregated to provide baseline indicators for monitoring and evaluation. Follow-up data show changes in key child health behaviors. (authors)

Adolescents’ pregnancy intentions: Relations to life situations and caretaking behaviors prenatally and 2 years postpartum

Purpose: This study explores if and how adolescents’ pregnancy intentions relate to life situations and health-related behaviors prenatally and up to 2 years postpartum. Methods: Adolescent girls who reported that they had “wanted a baby” ( n = 75) as their reason for pregnancy were compared with those who reported that the pregnancy “just happened” ( n = 79) at four separate time periods: prenatally, at 6 and 24 months postpartum, and at 18 months postpartum for teens who became pregnant again subsequent to the study pregnancy. Results: Those who stated that they wanted a baby were more likely to be Hispanic, married, and out of school before becoming pregnant. They were less likely to receive welfare as their primary means of support and to have run away from home in the past than teens who stated that their pregnancy just happened. Self-reported reason for pregnancy was unrelated to repeat pregnancy by 18 months postpartum, but those who had wanted the study baby were less likely to undergo elective termination of a subsequent pregnancy and less likely to become pregnant by a different partner. The groups diverged at 24 months postpartum when those who wanted a baby were more likely to be married to the father of the baby, be financially supported by him, receive child care assistance from him, and have attempted or succeeded at breastfeeding the study child. Conclusion: Self-reported reason for pregnancy reveals many important characteristics of pregnant adolescents both at the time of presentation and up to 2 years postpartum. Young women in this study who reported intentional pregnancy seem to fare better with regard to their financial status and their relationship with the father of the baby.

Parent protection in context.

S. Goldberg, J. E. Grusec, and J. M. Jenkins (1999) made a strong and interesting case for distinguishing parents' protective abilities from generalized responsiveness in the study of infant-parent attachment. The endorsement of a narrow approach in the study of attachment, however, should not occur at the expense of gaining insights about potentially complex processes underlying parent protection. Three issues are addressed in the commentary: (a) A parent's protective behavior needs to be understood in relation to a particular infant, (b) the family context needs to be examined as a backdrop for understanding parents' caretaking behavior and its effectiveness, and (c) the processes involved in the development of the infant-mother relationship may not necessarily be the same processes that underlie the development of the infant-father attachment relationship.

The transmission of trauma through caretaking patterns of behavior in holocaust families: Re‐enactments in a facilitated long‐term second‐generation group

In 1980, thirty‐five years after the end of World War II, the long‐term impact of war‐trauma on individuals’ lives led to concern about Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder. While the focus here is not on “disorders,” it is on interactive patterns of “defensive” caretaking behaviors which contribute to intergenerational transmission of anxiety, silence and losses related to the Holocaust. In this long‐term group, defensive caretaking patterns are conceptualized as second‐generation behaviors which focus on parental needs thereby avoiding addressing second‐generation vulnerabilities. Relevant concepts of Sullivan, Winnicott, Bion and Fairbairn are applied. In an innovative trauma group design, defensive caretaking patterns are illustrated through clinical examples and interventions by the therapist as a “validating object” work to mitigate transmission to still the next generation.

The Meaning of Crying Based on Attachment Theory

Crying is inborn attachment behavior which, according to attachment theorists John Bowlby and Margaret Ainsworth, is primarily an appeal for the protective presence of a parent. Infant crying triggers corresponding caretaking behavior in the parents. These reciprocal behaviors help establish and maintain the parent-child attachment bond. Crying continues throughout life to be a reaction to separation and loss, to carry an attachment message, and to trigger caretaking responses. Crying can be classified according to the stage of the grieving process to which it corresponds: protest or despair. The absence of crying when it would be expected or appropriate corresponds to an unresolved grief reaction representing detachment. Each type of crying and noncrying elicits different caretaking responses with interpersonal, clinical, and cultural implications.

The meaning of postponed motherhood for women in the United States and Sweden: Aspects of feminism and radical timing strategies

This exploratory study considered certain psychosocial, medical, and cultural aspects of the phenomenon of postponed motherhood for one cohort of white women born between 1947 and 1953 in Sweden and the United States. A cross‐cultural comparison was made of the experience of pregnancy and the early perinatal period in 15 American and 16 Swedish women to find out (a) whether timing decisions reflected the influence of feminist ideology toward a reproductive strategy radically different from the conventional one, and (b) whether the pattern of delayed motherhood was culture specific. Results indicated that the patterns of delayed motherhood were culture specific. Feminist ideology clearly influenced the timing of the American women's first birth but was evident in Sweden. Women in the U.S. exhibited more nonconventional behaviors and attitudes, whereas Swedish women were more conventional. However, the husbands in both groups were remarkably similar in infant caretaking behaviors, regardless of culture and level of education attainment. These findings indicate postponed motherhood has different meanings in the cultural context of these two Western industrialized societies.

On the function of swaddling as traditional infant-care practiced by Native South Americans

Placing the infant in a device which restrained his/her movement was a traditional custom of infant caretaking in a number of parts of the world, and is still observed in some of them. An example of such practices, swaddling, was investigated with Native Americans, the Aymara, in Bolivia, and caretaking behaviors in 24 swaddling and 18 non-swaddling families were compared. Results did not support the notion that swaddling was a form of infant neglect on the part of caretakers. Swaddling caretakers actually exhibited as strong interest in the infant as non-swaddling caretakers, and spent more money on his/her clothes. The mother spent less time for infant care in the swaddling family. However, other members of the family took more time to take care of the infant than those in the non-swaddling family. It is argued that swaddling effectively encourages non-mother family members to participate in infant caretaking, in addition to serving a potentially beneficial function to protect infants from unsafe and unsanitary home environments.

Induction of brain prolactin receptor long-form mRNA expression and maternal behavior in pup-contacted male rats: promotion by prolactin administration and suppression by female contact.

Prolactin (PRL) is considered to induce maternal behavior toward foster young in female rats. In the present study, we studied the relationship between pup contact-induced maternal behavior and serum PRL concentrations and brain PRL receptor (PRL-R) mRNA expression in male rats. Both intact and castrated male rats exposed to foster pups gradually developed caretaking behavior such as crouching and licking, but their exhibitions of other maternal behavior components, retrieval/grouping and nest building, were incomplete. However, in the male rats displaying crouching and licking, the concomitant increases in serum PRL concentration and brain mRNA expression for long-form PRL-R were observed. The expression of short-form PRL-R mRNA in the brain was not stimulated by pup contact. Administration of PRL remarkably promoted the onset of those maternal responses in male rats. On the other hand, when an intact male rat was housed in a cage where a lactating female rat and her pups were living, his scores in maternal behavior tests toward pups were lowered. And, concomitantly, increases in serum PRL concentration and brain expression of long-form PRL-R mRNA were reduced. In castrated male rats, however, the ratings of maternal behavior toward foster young, serum PRL concentration increase, or brain long-form PRL-R mRNA expression were not reduced at all by cohabitation with a female and her pups. These findings indicated that maternal behavior was triggered and maintained in pup-contacted male rats through elevated serum PRL levels and induced brain long-form PRL-R.

Concept of Codependency: Blaming the Victim or Pathway to Recovery?

Reconstruing Codependency Using Self-in-Relation Theory: A Feminist Perspective (Collins, 1993) was a thought-provoking and well-written but frequently misleading analysis and critique of the concept of codependency. As the second author of one of the articles Collins cited as part of her argument (Jacob, Favorini, Meisel, & Anderson, 1978), I felt compelled to respond. Our article was written 16 years ago and, therefore, predates the popularization and perhaps the formulation of the construct. The studies we reviewed typically assessed the presence of psychopathology using measures such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Hathaway & McKinley, 1951) and did not look for codependent behavior specifically. This is an important distinction glossed over by Collins. In the 15 years since our article was published, a great deal has been learned about addicted family systems that suggests the prevalence of impaired problem solving and communication; physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; and lasting negative consequences for the children of these families. Certainly, to locate the pathology of such a system in the addict's spouse is, as Collins contends, the However, as an adult child of alcoholics (ACOA), I can testify personally to the value of the concept of in the recovery process of surviving family members. Therefore, I would like to respond to several points in Collins's article. Collins's summary of the definitions of and descriptions of behavior and characteristics associated with it are consistent with what I have read on the subject. The hallmark trait is caretaking behavior -- the codependent individual will meet the needs of another before meeting his or her own needs and will do this consistently. Collins suggests that the term codependency is applied primarily to women and that the behaviors described result in large part from societal prescriptions of appropriate coping behavior for women. However, authors writing on this subject do not limit the term's application to women. Because most addicted individuals have been male (this is changing), women may have more often shown this pattern, but it is not limited in theory or in reality to women. Use of the term sick to label this behavior does seem extreme, but most of the writings I have seen directed to ACOAs and those recovering from are primarily supportive and caring and do not convey a tone of blaming the victim. Although there is documentation that stress-related health problems are common in spouses of alcoholics, I agree with Collins that extension of the disease concept from addiction to is inappropriate. Studies on Codependency Collins actually cites no studies directly testing the existence of codependence. Tweed and Ryff (1991) and Seefeldt and Lyon (1991) both assessed ACOA characteristics but did not focus specifically on codependence. The latter source is a conference paper unavailable to this writer. Tweed and Ryff compared higher-socioeconomic-status, demographically matched ACOAs and non-ACOAs (according to the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test) on 10 self-report measures of psychological distress and well-being, personality, and psychological development. Well-being assessment was included to examine resilience. ACOAs were significantly more depressed and anxious but did not differ on the other eight measures. However, the younger part of their sample were all college students, and the measures used do not adequately tap the concept of codependence, nor is the term used in their article. The ACOAs had significantly more often received psychiatric treatment and were significantly more concerned that they might have eating or alcohol problems; they also more often reported emotional abuse in childhood. Furthermore, all measures were self-reported, allowing denial and social desirability to operate. …

Personality Disorders of Affectively Ill Mothers: Links to Maternal Behavior

The objective of the present study was to assess relations between depression and personality disorders, and to examine how psychiatric problems are linked to maternal caretaking behavior. Subjects were affectively ill and well mothers and their children from 89 families participating in a longitudinal study of child development and childrearing. Psychiatric and behavioral measures were obtained at three time periods: when the child was a toddler, early school age, and preadolescent. A personality disorder assessment of the mother was made at the third time period. Affectively ill mothers reported more personality disorder symptoms than did well mothers. Severity of affective illness and recency of episodes were related to higher rates of personality disorder symptoms. The behavior of affectively ill mothers in interaction with their children was related to mothers' personality disorder symptoms. For example, unipolar mothers reporting higher rates of symptoms in the paranoid, schizoid, or schizotypal dis...

The incidence of sleeping problems in preterm and fullterm infants discharged from neonatal special care units: an epidemiological longitudinal study.

Anecdotal reports have suggested that sleeping problems are a frequent complaint from parents of preterm infants. This prospective epidemiological study examined the incidence and stability of sleeping problems of very preterm (< 32 weeks gestation at birth), preterm (32-36 weeks gestation) and fullterm infants, all admitted to special care baby units (SCBU) after birth, in comparison to healthy term infants over the first 5 years of life. Preterm infants were found to have fewer and shorter night-wakings at 5 months. No differences in sleeping behaviour compared with healthy term children were found at 20 and 56 months of age. Similar significant, and moderate, stability of nightwaking from one age to the next were found for exSCBU-graduates and healthy fullterm infants. Parental interventions such as staying with the child until sleep and taking the infant into bed af night were related to nightwaking problems and increased parental distress. It is concluded that prematurity, and thus neurological immaturity and special care experience are less important than caretaking behaviour in the development of sleeping problems in both preterm and fullterm infants.

Infant care in the spectral tarsier (Tarsius spectrum) Sulawesi, Indonesia

I present quantitative and qualitative data on infant caretaking behaviors collected during a preliminary field study of spectral tarsiers (Tarsius spectrum),in a northern Sulawesi rain forest. The primary goal of the study is to identify the basic pattern of infant care in this species. I studied tarsiers at Tangkoko-Dua Saudara Nature Reserve in Sulawesi, Indonesia, from May to July 1992. I observed two infants, from two groups for a total of 96 hr using focal follows. During individual focal follows, ranging from 20 min to 6 hr, I recorded behaviors at 5-min intervals. I also recorded distances of group members relative to the infant at 5-min intervals. I subsampled the data at 35-min intervals to control for statistical autocorrelation between data points. Infants were alone between 40 and 50% of the time. The two subadults were more frequently in proximity to the infant than the adult males, the nonmatemal adult female, or the mothers were. This pattern of the subadults maintaining proximity to the infant continued when the mothers were absent. These results suggest that subadults may be guarding or babysitting infants. It is also possible that subadults are not traveling as far from the sleeping site as adults do and are therefore more likely to be found in association with the infant.

Support systems and caretaking behaviors of adolescent and older mothers: the first year after delivery.

This study investigated differences in support systems and caretaking behaviors of adolescent and older mothers. Nineteen adolescent and 25 older, Caucasian, first-time mothers completed the Community Interaction Checklist and Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment one, six, and 12 months after delivery. No significant differences in number or quality of daily interactions existed, although teens interacted more with helping agents and less with the baby's father and work contacts. No significant relationship between support and caretaking occurred. Teens may not be the isolated group sometimes depicted in the literature. They are a diverse population whose varying, individual needs must be considered prior to intervention.

Household behaviors in the management of diarrhea and their relevance for persistent diarrhea

There has been a great deal of research in recent years on household behaviors related to diarrhea management. Most of the available data on household diarrhea management, however, pertains to acute diarrheal episodes. There is a death of knowledge concerning household and caretaker behaviors when the diarrhea is of longer duration. This paper briefly reviews some of what has been learned about household behaviors in the management of acute diarrhea and discusses its relevance for persistent diarrhea. Based upon what has been learned from anthropological studies of acute diarrhea and the little that is known about caretaker behavior during persistent diarrhea, a hypothetical model of the interactions among household behavior and characteristics of diarrheal episodes is presented. The model argues that maternal (or caretaker) concern increases with diarrheal duration, and that changes in behavior, both adaptive and maladaptive, are more likely to occur during an episode of persistent diarrhea, compared to acute. In some cases, these actions may directly influence the outcome of the episode. There is a need to better understand household case management behaviors through the continuum of diarrheal duration and the effect of these behavioral factors on episode outcome. This information is necessary in order to communicate effective message to caretakers about what they should know and what they should do when persistent diarrhea occurs.

Dimensions of maltreated children's home behavior: A factor analytic approach

This study identified dimensions of home behavior of maltreating parents and their children through exploratory factor analysis. Five child factors were identified: self-directed behavior, affiliative behavior, negativity, positive social interaction, and questioning. Five parent factors were identified: positive social interaction, caretaking, discipline, refusal, and hostility. Multivariate analyses indicated that neglected children and abused children had less positive social interaction than adequately reared children. Children showed more questioning and less negativity at older ages. Abusing parents were most hostile, whereas neglecting parents showed the least positive social interaction. Abusing parents directed less hostility toward older children than the other child-rearing groups. Parents exhibited less caretaking behavior toward older children and directed more positive social interaction toward children with higher developmental quotients. The results suggest that factor analysis is a viable means of identifying dimensions of child and parent behavior which could facilitate comparison of effects across studies.

Socialization, perspective-taking, and the sibling relationship.

Examined the relations among (a) the quality of the sibling relationship (b) maternal socialization techniques about infant's emotions and skills, (c) first-born's perspective-taking skills, and (d) first-born's caretaking behavior in 32 sibling pairs (14 months; 3-5 years) and their mothers, observed both at home and a modified lab, strange situation

Sibling Interactions in Married and Divorced Families:

One hundred twenty-eight sibling dyads, 64 from married families, and 64 from divorced, were observed on two separate occasions while playing a structured and an unstructured game. Half of the sibling dyads within each family form were from higher socioeconomic status (SES) families and half from lower SES families. The frequency of caretaking (e.g., directing, teaching, helping), negative, and positive behaviors were coded. Results revealed that sibling interactions in divorced families are both more negative and less positive than in married families. Siblings in divorced families also engage in more caretaking behavior. Similar differences were detected between lower and higher SES families, yet differences in sibling interactions in married and divorced families were not exacerbated by socioeconomic status. Younger siblings were more likely to be the recipient of caregiving behavior and to be more positive in their interactions. However, both older and younger siblings' behavior was influenced by the ...

Of sex roles and strollers: Female and male attention to toddlers at the zoo

Research supports the conclusion that adults interact differently with children of different sexes. Laboratory and home studies indicate that fathers/adult males are the primary agents of sex typing and that mothers/adult females are the primary caretakers, especially regarding the managerial aspects of child care. Little attention, however, has been directed at the public display of these differences and their covariance. Observations were made of 6414 visitors to the Sacramento zoo, with 524 adult females, 524 adult males, and 524 toddler triumvirates targeted for specific analyses of adult-child interactions and caretaking behaviors. Males were significantly more likely to carry female toddlers than male toddlers, while females made no such distinction. Adult females were more likely than adult males to push the child's stroller. Related research on the father's role in sex-typing behavior and the role of the division of child care between parents in the maintenance and reproduction of gender roles is discussed.

Nursing Interval and Maternal Responsivity: Effect on Early Infant Crying

In industrialized societies, the unique pattern of crying in the first three months is "unexplained" but thought to be due to different biobehavioral factors from later crying behavior. To increase the range of the feeding and caretaking behaviors hypothesized to be relevant determinants of early crying, home observations and diary records were analyzed from samples of two subcultures of American middle-class women (La Leche League and "standard care" mothers; each n = 16) differing primarily in such practices. Both during and after the early crying stage, frequently fed infants cried or fretted less often (8.1 v 15.8 episodes per hour at 2 months of age; 10.7 v 16.6 episodes per hour at 4 months of age), and fewer of them exhibited rhythmic crying behavior (four v 11 at 2 months; eight v 13 at 4 months) during observations. However, only during the early crying period at 2 months were interval between feedings and maternal response latency shown to be independent determinants of cry/fret frequency (overall r2 = .35, P = .01), each factor accounting for approximately half of the explained individual variance. Furthermore, feeding interval was the only variable associated with rhythmic crying behavior at 2 months of age (r2 = .20;P = .01). In similar analyses at 4 months, there were no significant relationships with later crying or fretting. The results suggest that, in the presence of variation in feeding practice greater than that which is typical for our society, feeding interval may be a significant factor in early (but not later) crying behavior; furthermore, this effect is independent of and additive to the soothing effect of short response latency.