Changes In Maternal Sensitivity Research Articles

Maternal sensitivity and child attachment security in a low SES Peruvian sample: longitudinal relationships

ABSTRACT We tested the generalizability of the sensitivity-security link in a sample of 35 preschooler-mother dyads from a low socioeconomic district in Lima, Peru. We first describe maternal sensitivity and attachment security at two timepoints during early childhood. Second, we investigated the stability of attachment security and maternal sensitivity over a time span of one year. Third, we tested the association between sensitivity and security at each timepoint. Finally, we investigated whether changes in maternal sensitivity predict changes in child security. The results indicated that sensitivity and security were lower than scores reported in the literature for middle-class samples. T2 maternal sensitivity scores were significantly higher than T1 sensitivity scores, and no significant differences were found between T1 and T2 security. Sensitivity and security were associated at both timepoints, after controlling for socio-demographic variables. One-tail test indicated that changes in maternal sensitivity were associated with changes in child security.

Attachment and mother-infant interactions in dyads with infants born full-term, moderate-to-late preterm, and very-to-extreme preterm

BackgroundThe impact of prematurity status on attachment quality remains indeterminate. Some studies found no differences between infants born preterm (PT) and infants born full-term (FT), while other investigations present opposite results. AimsWe aim to contribute to this body of research by studying mother-infant interactive behaviors and quality of attachment in 3 independent samples: Full-Term (FT), Moderate-to-Late Preterm (MLPT) and Very-to-Extreme Preterm (VEPT). Study designThis is a longitudinal laboratory study conducted from 3 to 12 months of age (corrected-age in the case of infants born PT). SubjectsThe participants are 213 Portuguese infants (FT = 105; MLPT = 52; VEPT = 56) and their mothers. Outcome measuresMother-infant interactive behavior was observed in free-play at 3 and 9 months (corrected-age). Infant attachment was observed in Strange Situation at 12 months. ResultsSecure attachment is more prevalent in infants born FT, and ambivalent attachment is more prevalent in infants born VEPT. Infants with a secure attachment have higher gestational age and weight at birth. Infant and maternal interactive behavior quality is associated with attachment patterns and varies according to infant prematurity status. Last, the results indicate changes in maternal sensitivity and infant difficult behavior from 3 to 9 months of infant's age. ConclusionsOur findings indicate that prematurity status impacts attachment quality. Changes in maternal and infant behavior from 3 to 9 months suggest a period of rapid non-linear development, supporting a transactional multilayered approach to the study of mother-infant relationship.

The predictive relation of maternal sensitivity over time and child characteristics on early attachment

ABSTRACT Hierarchical linear modelling was used to explore the effect of changes in maternal sensitivity on attachment over time. Child characteristics of gender, temperament, and developmental status were used as moderating factors. Data from 1,249 mothers and their children from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development when the children were 15, 24, and 36 months of age. Results indicated that maternal sensitivity at 15 months was not predictive of attachment when conditioned on maternal sensitivity at 24 and 36 months. Mothers who were more sensitive on average were more likely to have children with secure attachments; fluctuations in individual mothers’ sensitivity did not predict her child’s attachment. Male children were more strongly affected by their mothers’ sensitivity than female children. The higher a child’s developmental status in infancy, the lower the likelihood for later insecure attachment. Implications regarding the importance of parental behaviour in toddlerhood is discussed.

The relation between changes in maternal sensitivity and attachment from infancy to 3 years

The purpose of this study was to examine whether children’s attachment status changed as a function of changes in maternal sensitivity during the first 3 years. This study used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development and included 1,016 participants with attachment and maternal sensitivity data when the children were 15, 24, and 36 months of age. Results indicated that (1) concurrent measures of maternal sensitivity and attachment status were weakly associated. This association was strongest at 24 and 36 months and was predominantly accounted for by more sensitive maternal behavior predicting secure status. (2) A direct but weak relation was found between slopes of change in maternal sensitivity and changes in attachment status. And (3) multiple time points of maternal sensitivity jointly predicted changes in attachment, especially maternal sensitivity at 24 and 36 months. The findings of this study suggest that the influence of changes in parental sensitivity on child attachment is best understood in the context of ongoing parent–child interactions beginning in toddlerhood.

Breastfeeding duration predicts greater maternal sensitivity over the next decade.

The current study represents the first longitudinal investigation of the potential effects of breastfeeding duration on maternal sensitivity over the following decade. This study also examined whether infant attachment security at 24 months would mediate longitudinal relations between breastfeeding duration and changes in maternal sensitivity over time. Using data from 1,272 families from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we found that longer breastfeeding duration (assessed up to age 3) predicted increases in observed maternal sensitivity up to child age 11, after accounting for maternal neuroticism, parenting attitudes, ethnicity, maternal years of education, and presence of a romantic partner. Additionally, secure attachment at 24 months was predicted by breastfeeding duration, but it did not act as a mediator of the link from breastfeeding duration to maternal sensitivity in this study. Generating a more specific understanding of how breastfeeding impacts the mother-child dyad beyond infancy will inform recommendations for best practices regarding breastfeeding. (PsycINFO Database Record

Assessing a change mechanism in a randomized home-visiting trial: Reducing disrupted maternal communication decreases infant disorganization.

Although randomized interventions trials have been shown to reduce the incidence of disorganized attachment, no studies to date have identified the mechanisms of change responsible for such reductions. Maternal sensitivity has been assessed in various studies and shown to change with intervention, but in the only study to formally assess mediation, changes in maternal sensitivity did not mediate changes in infant security of attachment (Cicchetti, Rogosch, & Toth, 2006). Primary aims of the current randomized controlled intervention trial in a high-risk population were to fill gaps in the literature by assessing whether the intervention (a) reduced disorganization, (b) reduced disrupted maternal communication, and (c) whether reductions in disrupted maternal communication mediated changes in infant disorganization. The results indicated that, compared to controls (n = 52), both infant disorganization and disrupted maternal communication were significantly reduced in the intervention group (n = 65) that received regular home-visiting during pregnancy and the first year of life. Furthermore, reductions in disrupted maternal communication partially accounted for the observed reductions in infant disorganization compared to randomized controls. The results are discussed in relation to the societal cost effectiveness of early attachment-informed interventions for mothers and infants, as well as the importance of formally assessing underlying mechanisms of change in order to improve and appropriately target preventive interventions.

Adult attachment status predicts the developmental trajectory of maternal sensitivity in new motherhood among Chinese mothers

Objectiveto investigate adult attachment status in first-time mothers, and stability and/or changes in maternal sensitivity during infancy. Designlongitudinal study using quantitative and qualitative methods, and statistical modelling. Three home visits were undertaken when the infant was approximately six, nine and 14 months old. The Adult-to-Parental Attachment Experience Survey was used, and scores for three dimensions were obtained: secure-autonomous, preoccupied and dismissive. Maternal sensitivity was assessed at each time point using the Maternal Behaviour Q-Sort by observing interaction between the mother and infant at home. Settinghomes and community settings in greater metropolitan Beijing, North China. Participants83 mothers and infants born in 2010 enrolled in this study. Data were missing for one or more time points in 20 cases. Findingsthe mean score for maternal sensitivity tended to increase from six to 14 months. Post-hoc analyses of one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed that maternal sensitivity was significantly higher at 14 months than at six or nine months. An unconditional latent growth model (LGM) of maternal sensitivity, estimated using the Bayesian approach, provided a good fit for the data. Using three attachment-related variables as predictors in the conditional LGM, the model fitting indices were found to be sufficient, and the results suggested that the secure score positively predicted the intercept of the growth model, and the dismissive score negatively predicted both the intercept and slope of the growth model. Key conclusionsmaternal sensitivity increased over time during infancy. Furthermore, individual differences existed in the developmental trajectory, which was influenced by maternal attachment status. Implications for practiceknowledge about attachment-related differences in the trajectory of first-time mothers׳ sensitivity to infants may help midwives and doctors to provide individualised information and support, with special attention given to mothers with a dismissive attachment status.

Association between maternal sensitivity and externalizing behavior from preschool to preadolescence

Using data from the longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1364), this study examined the association between mothers' sensitivity and children's externalizing behavior from preschool to preadolescence. Externalizing behavior declined on average across this period with a slowing of this decline around middle childhood. Maternal sensitivity remained relatively stable on average, and there was significant variation across mothers. A decrease in maternal sensitivity from ages 3 to 11 was related to an increase in externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 12. A model-based test of the direction of the effect suggested that the association between changes in maternal sensitivity and externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 11 was driven by child effects on mothers and not vice-versa. Between late preschool age and preadolescence, the behavior problems of children appear to strongly influence the sensitive support of mothers. Practical implications were discussed in light of these findings.

Interpersonal and genetic origins of adult attachment styles: a longitudinal study from infancy to early adulthood.

One of the assumptions of attachment theory is that individual differences in adult attachment styles emerge from individuals' developmental histories. To examine this assumption empirically, the authors report data from an age 18 follow-up (Booth-LaForce & Roisman, 2012) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a longitudinal investigation that tracked a cohort of children and their parents from birth to age 15. Analyses indicate that individual differences in adult attachment can be traced to variations in the quality of individuals' caregiving environments, their emerging social competence, and the quality of their best friendship. Analyses also indicate that assessments of temperament and most of the specific genetic polymorphisms thus far examined in the literature on genetic correlates of attachment styles are essentially uncorrelated with adult attachment, with the exception of a polymorphism in the serotonin receptor gene (HTR2A rs6313), which modestly predicted higher attachment anxiety and which revealed a Gene × Environment interaction such that changes in maternal sensitivity across time predicted attachment-related avoidance. The implications of these data for contemporary perspectives and debates concerning adult attachment theory are discussed.

Which preventive interventions effectively enhance depressed mothers' sensitivity? A meta‐analysis

Improving depressed mothers' sensitivity is assumed to be a key element in preventing adverse outcomes for children of such mothers. This meta-analysis examines the short-term effectiveness of preventive interventions in terms of enhancing depressed mothers' sensitivity toward their child and investigates what type of intervention is most effective. Thirteen interventions, reported in 10 controlled outcome studies, met the inclusion criteria (N = 918). Meta-analytic results showed a small to medium, significant mean effect size (g = 0.32) with large variation in individual effect sizes (-0.56-1.76). Interventions including baby massage were highly effective in improving maternal sensitivity (g = 0.85). In contrast, individual therapy for the mother proved ineffective in terms of improving maternal sensitivity (g = -0.00). Two other significant predictors of greater effect sizes were the inclusion of a support group and the use of a higher number of intervention methods; however, the significance of these results was largely accounted for by one single study. Our meta-analysis confirms that depressed mothers' sensitivity can be improved by preventive intervention and suggests that baby massage may be an effective intervention method to evoke short-term changes in maternal sensitivity. It is unclear whether these changes are maintained over time.

Changes in maternal sensitivity across the first three years: are mothers from different attachment dyads differentially influenced by depressive symptomatology?

Hierarchical linear modeling was used to describe longitudinal relations between maternal sensitivity and depressive symptomatology for mothers of children with differing attachment classifications at 36 months of child age using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Attachment during toddlerhood was assessed using a modified Strange Situation Paradigm developed by the MacArthur Working Group on Attachment. On average, maternal sensitivity increased longitudinally from 6 to 36 months for groups with children classified as secure or resistant, but not for groups classified as avoidant or disorganized. Higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower levels of sensitivity for all mothers, although this effect was significantly less severe for mothers of securely attached children. In addition, higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with decreases in sensitivity from 6 to 36 months for mothers of children who at 36 months showed disorganized attachments combined with underlying patterns of avoidant or resistant behavior.

Early parenting intervention aimed at maternal sensitivity and discipline: a process evaluation

AbstractThis study investigated the influence of the intervention process on the effectiveness of a program aimed at promoting positive parenting. The study involved a homogeneous intervention sample (N=120) of mothers and their 1‐, 2‐, or 3‐year‐old children screened for high levels of externalizing problems. The alliance between mother and intervener, mothers' active skills implementation, and father involvement were examined in relation to changes in maternal sensitivity and positive discipline strategies. Results revealed that only alliance predicted change in positive parenting. Implications for future process evaluations and intervention programs are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.