Longitudinal Study Of Infants Research Articles

Discovering pattern in developing lives: Reflections on the Minnesota study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood

The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation was initiated in the mid-1970s as a short-term longitudinal study of infants at elevated risk for abuse and neglect. At the outset, the project leaders intended to characterize the infant, the caregiving environment, and the larger social milieu of the family in as comprehensive a manner as possible so as to test explicitly posed hypotheses about pathways leading from the child, the caregiving environment, and the social milieu to abuse or neglect. Paradoxically, only a minority of infants recruited to the study were ultimately abused or neglected over the 36-month period for which funding had been provided, but it proved possible to identify several antecedent indicators that predicted their outcome. It was also evident from the data that developmental casualty was elevated in this sample and the frequencies of suboptimal outcomes in social, emotional, and behavioral domains were greater than expected for less stressed samples. The study had yielded a wealth of information about infants and families from this at-risk sample and it was clear that the sample must be followed into childhood so as to describe the trajectories of developmental successes and casualties that were already apparent in the first 24 months of data. Alan Sroufe joined the project leaders in this endeavor and the childhood data supported the study of the sample into adolescence and now into adulthood. At this point, children of the original sample of infants are now being assessed using many of the protocols and procedures used with their parents. The study has produced hundreds of published reports about risk and its consequences, as well as about positive adjustment to life in a socio-cultural milieu that frequently can be non-supportive or even dangerous. This essay is a reflection on some accomplishments of the Minnesota study as these have helped shape how developmental scientists think about social and emotional development and more generally about how theory has guided the conceptual, empirical, and measurement plans for the study from its beginning.

Cocaine or Opiate Use During Pregnancy: What Is the Effect on the Infant?

The prenatal effects of substance use continue to receive attention from researchers. As part of a large, federally sponsored, multi-institutional, longitudinal study of infants exposed to cocaine, opiates, or both, blinded examiners examined auditory brain responses of 447 …

Cognitive and social factors in the development of infants with Down syndrome.

Infants and young children with Down syndrome can be engaging and affectionate. It seems that in the early months of life their personal relations may be relatively 'spared' the effects of limitations in their capacities for information-processing. Yet how far is this the case as development proceeds? In this paper we discuss some ways in which social and cognitive development interact and mutually influence one another over the first year or so of life, and present preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of infants with and without Down syndrome. The evidence suggests that the development of 'triadic' (person-person-world) social interactions may be affected by limited information-processing capacities in infants with Down syndrome, through a complex socially-mediated developmental trajectory.

Current best evidence: a review of the literature on umbilical cord clamping

Immediate clamping of the umbilical cord can reduce the red blood cells an infant receives at birth by more than 50%, resulting in potential short-term and long-term neonatal problems. Cord clamping studies from 1980 to 2001 were reviewed. Five hundred thirty-one term infants in the nine identified randomized and nonrandomized studies experienced late clamping, ranging from 3 minutes to cessation of pulsations, without symptoms of polycythemia or significant hyperbilirubinemia. Higher red blood cell flow to vital organs in the first week was noted, and term infants had less anemia at 2 months and increased duration of early breastfeeding. In seven randomized trials of preterm infants, benefits associated with delayed clamping in these infants included higher hematocrit and hemoglobin levels, blood pressure, and blood volume, with better cardiopulmonary adaptation and fewer days of oxygen and ventilation and fewer transfusions needed. For both term and preterm infants, few, if any, risks were associated with delayed cord clamping. Longitudinal studies of infants with immediate and delayed cord clamping are needed.

Minor physical anomalies and family adversity as risk factors for violent delinquency in adolescence.

Minor physical anomalies are considered indicators of disruption in fetal development. They have been found to predict behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. This study examined the extent to which minor physical anomalies, family adversity, and their interaction predict violent and nonviolent delinquency in adolescence. Minor physical anomalies were assessed in a group of 170 adolescent boys from low socioeconomic status neighborhoods of Montréal. The boys had been enrolled in a longitudinal study since their kindergarten year, when an assessment of family adversity had been made on the basis of familial status and the parents' occupational prestige, age at the birth of the first child, and educational level. Adolescent delinquency was measured by using self-reported questionnaires and a search of official crime records. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that both the total count of minor physical anomalies and the total count of minor physical anomalies of the mouth were significantly associated with an increased risk of violent delinquency in adolescence, beyond the effects of childhood physical aggression and family adversity. Similar findings were not found for nonviolent delinquency. Children with a higher count of minor physical anomalies, and especially a higher count of anomalies of the mouth, could be more difficult to socialize for different and additive reasons: they may have neurological deficits, and they may have feeding problems in the first months after birth. Longitudinal studies of infants with minor physical anomalies of the mouth are needed to understand the process by which they fail to learn to inhibit physical aggression.

Determinants of Growth From Birth to 12 Months Among Breast-Fed Honduran Infants in Relation to Age of Introduction of Complementary Foods

To evaluate the impact of introducing complementary foods to exclusively breast-fed infants at 4 vs 6 months on growth from 6 to 12 months, and to compare growth patterns of Honduran infants with those of breast-fed infants in the United States. Randomized intervention trial from 4 to 6 months and longitudinal study of infants from birth to 12 months. Low-income communities in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Primiparous, breast-feeding mothers and their infants (n = 141) recruited from public maternity hospitals. Infants were randomly assigned to exclusive breast-feeding to 6 months, or exclusive breast-feeding with addition of hygienically prepared, nutritionally adequate complementary foods at 4 months, with or without maintenance of baseline breast-feeding frequency. After 6 months, mothers continued to breast-feed and also fed their infants home-prepared foods after receiving instruction in appropriate feeding practices. Infant weight was measured monthly during the first year of life and infant length monthly from 4 to 12 months. Growth parameters were compared between the Honduran and US cohorts using multiple-regression and repeated-measures analysis of variance. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify determinants of infant growth. There were no differences in growth patterns by intervention group. Mean birth weight of the Honduran infants was significantly less than that of a cohort of breast-fed infants in an affluent US population (n = 46) (2889 +/- 482 vs 3611 +/- 509 g), but the Honduran infants exhibited rapid catch up in weight in the first few months of life, and the cohorts were similar in weight by 3 months. Mean weight and length gain were similar to those of the US cohort from 4 to 9 months but were lower from 9 to 12 months. Mean length for age was significantly less than that of the US cohort from 4 to 12 months; this was attributable to the difference in maternal height (12 cm shorter in Honduras on average). Within the Honduran cohort, growth velocity of low birth weight infants (< 2500 g; n = 28) was similar to that of their normal birth weight peers; thus, the former subgroup remained smaller than the latter throughout the first year of life. In poor populations, when breast-feeding is exclusive for the first 4 to 6 months, continues from 6 to 12 months, and is accompanied by generally adequate complementary foods, faltering in weight does not occur before 9 months among infants born with birth weights of more than 2500 g.

Relation between birth weight and blood pressure: longitudinal study of infants and children.

To study the relation between birth weight and systolic blood pressure in infancy and early childhood. Longitudinal study of infants from birth to 4 years of age. A middle class community in the Netherlands. 476 Dutch infants born in 1980 to healthy women after uncomplicated pregnancies. Systolic blood pressure and body weight measured at birth and at 3 months and 4 years of age; the relation between systolic blood pressure and birth weight as estimated by multiple regression models that include current weight and previous blood pressure and control for gestational age, length at birth, and sex. Complete data were available on 392 infants. At 4 years of age the relation between blood pressure and birth weight appeared to be U shaped; low and high birthweight infants had raised blood pressure. Current weight and previous blood pressure were also positively associated with blood pressure at that age. Low birthweight infants (birth weight < 3100 g) had a greater gain in blood pressure and weight in early infancy. High birthweight infants (birth weight > or = 3700 g) had high blood pressure at birth, and weight and blood pressure tended to remain high thereafter. Even among normal infants there seem to be subgroups defined by birth weight in which blood pressure is regulated differently. Future investigations are needed to examine the physiological basis of these differences. Studies of correlates of adult disease related to birth weight should investigate mechanisms related to increased risk separately in infants of low and high birth weight.

Preliminary refractive findings of a longitudinal study of infants from birth to 1 year of age

Preliminary refractive findings of a longitudinal study of infants from birth to 1 year of age

Correlates of mastery-related behavior: a short-term longitudinal study of infants in their second year.

The present study examined correlates of mastery-related behavior across the infant's second year of life. Maternal control style was quantified on a control to support-of-autonomy continuum, infant-mother attachment was assessed in the Strange Situation, and mastery-related behavior was observed in a toy play session at 12 and 20 months. Infants whose mothers were supportive of their autonomy displayed greater task-oriented persistence and competence during play than did infants of more controlling mothers; securely attached and avoidant infants tended to exhibit greater persistence at tasks than anxious-ambivalent babies, and ambivalent babies were the most negative in affect.

Infant responses and the physical environment.

A longitudinal study of infants (n=23) from 6 to 13 months was made to explore infants' responses to objects high on complexity and responsiveness compared to low‐scored ones, and whether the high‐scored objects were preferred. Further, it was explored to what extent individual differences of the infants represent a source of variation. The results showed that more than 50% of the total variance was accounted for by differences in object qualities, and about 25% by individual differences. High‐scored objects were significantly more often preferred compared to low‐scored ones irrespective of age.

Course and outcome of otitis media in earlyinfancy: A prospective study

We determined the course of otitis media in a prospective, longitudinal study of infants who were enrolled at birth and followed to age 1 year. Bilateral chronic otitis media with effusion developed in eight of 24 (33%) with onset of otitis media before age 2 months, compared to two of 30 (7%) with later onset (P = 0.012). Infants with bilateral chronic otitis media with effusion could be identified early: eight of 15 (53%) infants with bilateral middle ear effusion at age 2 months subsequently had bilateral chronic otitis media with effusion, compared to two of 55 (4%) infants without bilateral effusions at age 2 months (P = 0.000007). The onset of otitis media was symptomatic in 29 of 54 (54%), and asymptomatic in 25 of 54 (46%). If regular well-child examinations with otoscopy had not been performed in asymptomatic infants, bilateral chronic otitis media with effusion would not have been detected in six of 10 infants. Infants with otitis media in early infancy may be asymptomatic and are at high risk for chronic otitis media with effusion.

A longitudinal study of infants' communication patterns with mothers and daycare caregivers

A longitudinal study of infants' communication patterns with mothers and daycare caregivers

Screening for refractive errors in 6-9 month old infants by photorefraction.

The method of isotropic photorefraction has been used in a trial of refractive screening of 6-9 month old infants. Data are presented on the calibration of the method against retinoscopic measurements and its reliability. In photorefractive screening of 1096 infants under cyclopentolate cycloplegia 5% were found to be hypermetropic (over +3.5 D), 4.5% myopic, and 1.3% anisometropic (over 1 D). These refractive errors were confirmed on retinoscopic follow-up (with the exception of a few anisometropes). Follow-up of controls shows that one small refractive error was missed in 52 infants. We conclude that photorefraction is a valid and practical screening technique. Longitudinal study of infants with refractive errors will assess the value of early detection, in particular for prediction and prevention of strabismus.

The Clinical Dimension of Baby Games

Our longitudinal studies of infants from birth included interpersonal as an area in which reciprocity between the and his partners could be examined in fine detail. Observations of were recorded, along with all other data, in descriptive narratives by the observers in their twice-monthly home visits. Oncemonthly film documentation also included sequences. The included a large number of the traditional nursery and a number of which appeared to have no tradition and were inventions of the parents themselves. It was not until I completed the data sorting and constructed individual profiles for a study of human attachments that a story emerged. I then saw that there was a remarkable correspondence between the characteristics of the invented and the characteristics of parent-child interaction derived from all other observations in the area of human attachment. In many cases the conflictual elements in the parents' relationship to the infant, the defenses or the failure of defenses against negative and forbidden impulses, could be read as fairly through the profile as through the human attachment profile derived from all other sources of study. This is not to say, of course, that the provided as much information as the larger study, but rather that the were equivalent, in some ways, to a projective test in revealing the main lines of harmony and conflict in parent-child relationships. The children are blind, but our findings should not be interpreted as blind and parent games, rather as baby games in which parents at play reveal to the clinician some aspects of their conflicted parenthood. We can read the adaptive defenses