Quality Of Maternal Behavior Research Articles

A review of maternal behaviour in dogs and potential areas for further research.

Here we review information on maternal behaviour in dogs, defined as a combination of all the acts of the mother towards her offspring, which begins before parturition and continues until weaning. In dogs, maternal care is measured using the most commonly observed behaviours, such as the time spent in contact, licking/grooming and nursing of the puppies. Since newborn puppies have a very limited capacity for movement, maternal interaction is essential to their survival, nourishment and protection. It is also an important element of the bonding process between puppies and the bitch and is thought to play a role in the social development of the puppies. Nevertheless, some questions still need to be clarified, such as the best way to quantify factors that may interfere with maternal behaviour. In recent studies, maternal care, or maternal style, was measured using a scoring system and found to be influenced by factors such as litter size, breed and parity, or even human interaction. However, the impact of the emotional state of the bitch and the quality of maternal behaviour on puppy survival and development remain unclear. The long‐lasting effects of mother–puppy interactions on puppy behaviour during their adult life are still poorly understood, despite their importance for breeders who wish to prevent future problem behaviours.

Maternal Behavior Affects Child’s Attachment-Related Cortisol Stress Response

Background Mothers with a history of childhood maltreatment (CM) are likely to transmit their own experiences to the next generation. This is highly influenced by the quality of maternal behavior that enables to buffer infant’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress. From a transgenerational perspective the research question is, if infant’s cortisol stress response is influenced by maternal CM experiences or rather by the behavioral pathways during the first year of life. Methods 53 mother-child-dyads were measured at 12 months of infant’s age in a laboratory visit assessing the maternal quality of interactive behavior using the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification (AMBIANCE) measured during the strange situation procedure (SSP). Maltreatment experiences were assessed using the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ). Salivary cortisol of mother and infant were collected prior to and directly, 15 and 30 minutes after the SSP. Results Infants of disruptive mothers showed a significant increase in cortisol (F (3; 147) = 2.897, p= 0.048) after the SSP compared to infants of mothers with sensitive caregiving. Maternal CM did not influence the infant’s cortisol stress response due to the SSP. However maternal cortisol response was altered by trend due to CM (F (1.392; 71.008) = 3.157, p= 0.066). Conclusions Our data indicate that infant’s cortisol stress reactivity is influenced by the quality of maternal behavior and not by the transgenerational transmission of maternal CM experiences per se. These findings implicate that helping mothers to improve their caregiving behavior may help to improve stress-reactivity of their infant.

Quality of maternal behaviour during infancy predicts functional connectivity between default mode network and salience network 9 years later

Infants’ experiences are considered to determine to a large degree the strength and effectiveness of neural connections and fine tune the development of brain networks. As one of the most pervasive and potent relational experiences of infancy, parent-child relationships appear to be prime candidates to account for experience-driven differences in children’s brain development. Yet, studies linking parenting and functional connectivity are surprisingly scarce, and restricted to the connectivity of limbic structures. Accordingly, this longitudinal study explored whether normative variation in the quality of early maternal behaviour predicts the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks in late childhood. Maternal mind-mindedness and autonomy support were assessed with 28 children when they were 13 and 15 months old respectively. When children were 10 years of age, children underwent a resting-state functional MRI exam. Functional connectivity was assessed between key regions of the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontal-parietal central executive network (CEN). Results revealed that higher mind-mindedness and autonomy support predicted stronger negative connectivity between DMN and SN regions. These findings are the first to provide preliminary evidence suggestive of a long-lasting impact of variation within the normative range of early maternal behaviour on functional connectivity between large-scale brain networks.

An experimental study on mother-infant skin-to-skin contact in full-terms

In premature infants, daily skin-to-skin contact (SSC) has various beneficial effects on the health of the infant and the mother. These beneficial effects might extend to full-term infants. This experimental within-subject study examines the immediate effects of SSC on full-terms’ cortisol physiology during SSC and subsequent physiological and behavioral reactions to a mild stressor (a bathing session). Additionally, the effects of SSC on the quality of maternal behavior are examined.Between 5 and 7 weeks postpartum, 17 full-term infant-mother dyads were visited at home twice. During one home visit, a bathing session was proceeded by 50min of mother-infant SSC, while during the other visit the bathing session was proceeded by 50min of the infant resting alone. The order of the home visits was counterbalanced. Infant salivary cortisol measures were taken to measure the cortisol response to the experimental condition (SSC versus solitary resting) and the bathing session. Furthermore, infant behavioral distress and the quality of maternal behavior during the bathing session were scored from videotapes.Two-way within-subject repeated measures ANOVA’s showed that, when compared to solitary resting, full-terms’ cortisol concentrations significantly decreased during SSC, followed by higher cortisol reactivity in response to the subsequent bathing session. No effects of SSC on infant behavioral distress and maternal caregiving behavior were found. Apparently, a single session of mother-infant SSC can affect infant cortisol physiology in full-term infants. Future SSC research is needed to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms and dose-response relations in full-term infants.

Maternal Behavior Their Adjustments and Implicated Factors

The maternal behavior in mammals is one of the most stable and highly conserved motivated species-specific behaviors and crucial for reproductive functions. During maternal behavior nursing and feeding are associated factors with survival of mammalian offspring, mammals nurse their newborn in a wide diversity in the behavioral. In the mother relationship the suckling is the behavioral patterns that identified and unified mammals and showed several selected evolutionary conserved behavior. The milk is an important reward for the pups, it ensure the surviving. The quality of maternal behavior is transmitted between generations; the inadequate maternal care has harmful effects in the adulthood individual. The specific maternal pattern modalities differ greatly between species; the human bonding has underlying biological mechanisms similar in mammals. Maternal brain is modified in order to prepare the mother-pup relationship, being crucial for the adequate behavioral display in the mother-pup relationship. A bulk of surrounding factor such as sensorial stimulus, temperature, ultrasonic communication, and reinforcing stimulus determines the quality of the nursing and care of the progeny. Mother care and nursing quality have long lasting effects in adulthood, determining cognitive and behavioral development and some specific psychiatric and psychological condition in human populations.

Maternal behavior and infant physiology during feeding in premature and term infants over the first year of life.

Little is known about the relationship between maternal behavior and the stability of premature infants' physiologic responses during feeding. In a secondary data analysis, we examined relationships between quality of maternal behavior and cardiorespiratory physiology during feeding in 61 premature and 53 term infants at four times over the first year of life. Measures included heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and oxygen saturation; Child Feeding Skills Checklist; and Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment. Birthweight, gestational age, and neurodevelopmental risk were covariates. Quality of maternal behavior did not predict infants' physiologic response to feeding. However, birthweight was related to infant feeding physiology among all infants over the first year of life. Stress during fetal life, which may lead to impaired intrauterine growth and low birthweight, may have longitudinal effects on cardiorespiratory functioning of premature infants. Research is needed to further investigate the biological pathways by which maternal-infant interaction supports behavioral and physiologic feeding outcomes of premature infants.

Parenting, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Child Executive Functioning: A Longitudinal Study

Family socioeconomic status (SES) and the quality of maternal behavior are among the few identified predictors of child executive functioning (EF), and they have often been found to have interactive rather than additive effects on other domains of child functioning. The purpose of this study was to explore their interactive effects in the prediction of child EF. We assessed maternal behavior at 1 year and two dimensions of child EF (Conflict EF and Impulse Control) at 3 years with 114 mother–child dyads. The analyses revealed that better child performance on Conflict EF was significantly related to higher-quality maternal behavior and to higher SES, but no interactions were found. In contrast, significant interactions were found with Impulse Control such that higher-quality maternal behavior was predictive of better performance only among children from lower-SES families. These results support the idea that distinct mechanisms may underlie the development of different dimensions of child EF.

Evaluating Fidelity in Home-Visiting Programs a Qualitative Analysis of 1058 Home Visit Case Notes from 105 Families

ObjectiveImplementation fidelity is a key issue in home-visiting programs as it determines a program’s effectiveness in accomplishing its original goals. This paper seeks to evaluate fidelity in a 27-month program addressing maternal and child health which took place in France between 2006 and 2011.MethodTo evaluate implementation fidelity, home visit case notes were analyzed using thematic qualitative and computer-assisted linguistic analyses.ResultsDuring the prenatal period, home visitors focused on the social components of the program. Visitors discussed the physical changes in pregnancy, and psychological and social environment issues. Discussing immigration, unstable employment and financial related issues, family relationships and dynamics and maternity services, while not expected, were found in case notes. Conversely, health during pregnancy, early child development and postpartum mood changes were not identified as topics within the prenatal case notes. During the postnatal period, most components of the intervention were addressed: home visitors observed the mother’s adaptation to the baby; routine themes such as psychological needs and medical-social networks were evaluated; information on the importance of social support and on adapting the home environment was given; home visitors counseled on parental authority, and addressed mothers’ self-esteem issues; finally, they helped to find child care, when necessary. Some themes were not addressed or partially addressed: health education, child development, home environment, mother’s education plans and personal routine, partner support and play with the child. Other themes were not expected, but found in the case notes: social issues, mother-family relationship, relation with services, couple issues, quality of maternal behavior and child’s language development.ConclusionsIn this program, home visitors experienced difficulties addressing some of the objectives because they gave precedence to the families“ urgent needs. This research stresses the importance of training home visitors to adapt the intervention to the social, psychological and health needs of families.

The neural correlates of maternal sensitivity: An fMRI study

Research on maternal neural response to infant distress highlights circuits that may underlie differences in quality of maternal behavior. However, it is far from clear which circuits are relevant to maternal sensitivity, as opposed to other maternal behavioral dimensions, particularly after the early postpartum. This study examined maternal sensitivity, intrusiveness, and mother-infant dyadic harmony as correlates of mothers' neural responses to the cries of their own infants. Twenty-two primiparous mothers were observed during an interaction with their infants at 18 months postpartum. In a separate functional neuroimaging session, mothers were exposed to their own infant's cry sound, as well as unfamiliar infant's cry and control sounds. Mothers who displayed more sensitive behaviors with their infant exhibited greater activation to their own infant's cry compared to that of an unfamiliar infant in the right frontal pole and inferior frontal gyrus. Mothers who displayed more intrusive behaviors with their infant showed greater activation in the left anterior insula and temporal pole, while mothers who had more harmonious interactions with their infant displayed greater activation in left hippocampal regions. The roles of these areas in the regulation of maternal emotion and stress, self and other awareness, and empathy are examined.

The Role of Oxytocin in Mother-Infant Relations: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

Oxytocin is associated with the establishment and quality of maternal behavior in animal models. Parallel investigations in humans are now under way. This article reviews the current research examining the role of oxytocin in mother-infant relations, attachment, and bonding in humans. A systematic search was made of three electronic databases and other bibliographic sources for published research studies that examined oxytocin and mother-infant relations in humans, including attachment, maternal behavior, parenting, and mother-infant relations. Eight studies were identified, all of which were unique in their methodologies, populations studied, and measures used. Seven studies found significant and strong associations between levels or patterns of oxytocin and aspects of mother-infant relations or attachment. Oxytocin appears to be of crucial importance for understanding mother-infant relationships. The findings of this review suggest that the pioneering, but preliminary, research undertaken to date is promising and that replication with larger samples is needed. Research that draws on more robust measures of attachment and bonding, as well as improved measures of oxytocin that include both central and peripheral levels, will elucidate the role of oxytocin in human mother-infant relationships. As the production of oxytocin is by no means restricted to mothers, the extension of the oxytocin studies to fathering, as well as to alloparental caregiving, would be an intriguing next step.

Deconstructing Early Life Experiences

In rodents, a pup’s experiences in utero and during postnatal development shape its sexual behavior as an adult and how it is perceived by potential mates. We show that the male rat’s sexuality is primarily influenced by the postnatal sex ratio of its litter, but not by the litter’s prenatal intrauterine sex ratio or the behavior of its mother. Pups from litters with differing prenatal sex ratios were divided into litters with differing postnatal sex ratios. We found that males raised in a female-biased litter exhibited less mounting than males raised in either a male-biased litter or one with an equal sex ratio, and were less attractive to sexually receptive females, eliciting fewer soliciting behaviors, such as hop-darts, and fewer lordosis behaviors. However, the number of intromissions and ejaculations did not differ across groups, which suggests that males from female-biased litters mate as efficiently as males raised in other sex ratios, but do not require as many mounts to do so. The reported differences in sexual behavior did not vary with the quality of maternal behavior or with sexual experience in adulthood.

Baby Love? Oxytocin-Dopamine Interactions in Mother-Infant Bonding

Bonding is a special connection between individuals. It might be observed between mothers and their babies, lovers, family, friends, or even between owners and their pets. Bonding is a description of feelings that encompasses measurable parameters of attachment to another individual and reward by being attached. These parameters are sometimes used to scientifically define love. In the case of the mother-infant bond, there is recognition of the infant, and desire and action to give warmth, comfort, food, and protection. It has been known for many years that the neuroendocrine hormone, oxytocin, and the monoamine, dopamine, play key roles in initiation and maintenance of such behaviors. The Meaney lab (1) has been instrumental in establishing the separate importance of oxytocin and dopamine in mother-infant interaction and in showing that individual variation in these central systems underlies differences in quality of the behavior. However, exactly how and where oxytocin acts centrally in maternal behavior has been relatively ill defined, partly because oxytocin receptors are widely distributed and partly because oxytocin has multiple simultaneous roles perinatally. Now the precise roles for oxytocin in mediating this dialogue are emerging and dopamine in particular is a promising target. In the Meaney rat model of “good” mothers (defined as those exhibiting high licking, grooming, and archedback nursing behavior), high oxytocin receptor expression in key brain regions, such as the medial preoptic area (MPOA), ventral tegmental area (VTA), and nucleus accumbens, is evident (2). Good mothers can even pass on their maternal skills to daughters, and underlying this is epigenetic inheritance of oxytocin receptor expression patterns (3). “Poor” mothers do not show the same receptor patterns, but, when their offspring are cross-fostered to good mothers they can then acquire the beneficial receptor and behavioral patterns (4). On the other hand, when good mothers are stressed, brain oxytocin receptor patterns and maternal behavior are compromised (4). The important role of oxytocin is reinforced by insightful studies showing oxytocin-mediated intense functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals in the VTA and nucleus accumbens during suckling (5). Similar studies have been conducted also in women, where feelings of maternal love are associated with intense fMRI activation of the same brain regions in response to viewing pictures of their babies (6). Although oxytocin receptor patterns underlie oxytocin action, the effects of dopamine depend on its release. For example, increased dopamine in the nucleus accumbens equates with quality of maternal behavior (7). Transgenic mice lacking dopamine transporter exhibit impaired maternal behavior (8, 9). The sources of dopamine facilitating maternal behavior are the VTA and the substantia nigra, and lesions using 6-hydroxydopamine to selectively destroy monoamine cells block maternal behavior (10). Champagne et al. (7) developed the powerful technique of voltammetry to measure dopamine release in conscious rats, and elegantly showed that minute-by-minute dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens correlates with licking and grooming behavior. One of the most interesting findings of the Bartels and Zeki paper (6) is that the oxytocin receptor-rich regions that are shown to be activated by fMRI overlap to a great extent with dopamine source and target regions, including the nucleus accumbens. In this issue of Endocrinology, Shahrokh et al. (11) have now estab-

Genetic and environmental influence on attachment disorganization

Empirical studies demonstrate that maternal sensitivity is associated with attachment security in infancy, while maternal frightening/frightened behavior is related to attachment disorganization. However, attachment disorganization is also predicted by individual dispositions in infancy. Indeed, recent studies indicate a link between attachment disorganization and DRD4 gene polymorphisms, thus suggesting a genetic vulnerability for attachment disorganization. The aims of our study were twofold, to test a) a possible direct link between molecular genetic variations and attachment disorganization, and b) a possible gene-environment interaction with a moderating effect of early maternal caregiving. Attachment security and disorganization, as well as quality of maternal behavior were assessed in the infants of the Regensburg Longitudinal Study IV (N = 106) at the age of 12 months. DNA samples were collected in order to assess the exon III repeat polymorphism in the coding region and the -521 C/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the regulatory region of the DRD4 gene and a repeat polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene. Significant associations were found between attachment disorganization and the short polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene. Also, a gene-environment interaction indicated that this genetic association was only valid for infants of mothers exhibiting low responsiveness. No other significant genetic associations with attachment disorganization were apparent. The study suggests a gene-environment interaction whereby biological determinants of attachment disorganization are moderated by social experiences. Different pathways of the development of attachment disorganization are discussed based on a bio-behavioral model of development.

Seizure-prone EL mice exhibit deficits in pup nursing and retrieval assessed using a novel method of maternal behavior phenotyping

The selectively bred EL mouse strain exhibits hyperreactivity to environmental disturbance reflected by handling-induced seizures and motor hyperactivity in an exploratory task relative to a non-seizure-prone control strain. One possible mechanism for the nongenomic transmission of an adult seizure-prone/hyperactive phenotype is the quality of parenting provided to immature offspring. In particular, the quality of maternal behavior has been implicated as an environmental determinant in rodent biochemical and behavioral development. A complication in testing this hypothesis is that human handling for husbandry and testing itself triggers seizures in seizure-prone EL mice. Thus, the present study evaluated potential EL versus control strain differences in maternal behavior using a novel apparatus for passive observation of undisturbed mice. Nonmaternal behaviors were also measured to control for any nonspecific differences in activity or exploration. EL dams were slower than DDY controls to initiate pup retrieval and spent less time nursing/crouching over pups than DDY mice. EL dams also exhibited a profile of sustained exploration and grooming over time relative to the profile of DDY controls. These results suggest that EL mothers exhibit an overabundance of motor activities that compete with crouching/nursing and retrieval behaviors required for viability of the litter.

The effects of farrowing system design on welfare of sows and piglets of different genotypes

Although often described as “welfare-friendly”, the greater freedom of movement and choice of environments offered by communal farrowing systems does have potential welfare risks, primarily for the piglets. The maternal qualities of the sow will have a greater influence on the survival and growth of piglets in this communal farrowing system, than in a conventional farrowing crate and may be influenced by genotype. The objectives of this study were to compare the welfare of sows and piglets housed in farrowing crates and a communal farrowing system and to investigate whether sow genotype influences the quantity and quality of maternal behaviour and subsequent litter performance.

Variations in the maternal behaviour of primiparous, single-bearing ewes of a hill and a lowland breed of sheep

Perinatal lamb mortality can account for up to 20% of annual lamb losses, and at least a third of these deaths can be attributed to maternal factors (Mellor, 1988). Improvement in the quality of maternal behaviour may, therefore, lead to a reduction in lamb deaths. In order to identify if there is a genetic component to the expression of maternal behaviour, the behaviour of a lowland (Suffolk) and a hill (Scottish Blackface) breed of parturient ewe were quantified after the birth of a single lamb.

Young infants pay special attention to an actor's goal

Research on maternal neural response to infant distress highlights circuits that may underlie differences in quality of maternal behavior. However, it is far from clear which circuits are relevant to maternal sensitivity, as opposed to other maternal behavioral dimensions, particularly after the early postpartum. This study examined maternal sensitivity, intrusiveness, and mother–infant dyadic harmony as correlates of mothers’ neural responses to the cries of their own infants. Twenty-two primiparous mothers were observed during an interaction with their infants at 18 months postpartum. In a separate functional neuroimaging session, mothers were exposed to their own infant's cry sound, as well as unfamiliar infant's cry and control sounds. Mothers who displayed more sensitive behaviors with their infant exhibited greater activation to their own infant's cry compared to that of an unfamiliar infant in the right frontal pole and inferior frontal gyrus. Mothers who displayed more intrusive behaviors with their infant showed greater activation in the left anterior insula and temporal pole, while mothers who had more harmonious interactions with their infant displayed greater activation in left hippocampal regions. The roles of these areas in the regulation of maternal emotion and stress, self and other awareness, and empathy are examined.

Mother, child, and situational correlates of toddlers' social competence

Mother, child, and situational correlates of toddlers' social competence in the second year were investigated in a sample of 24 children (11 girls, 13 boys). At 12 months, children's temperament (perceived difficulty) was assessed by questionnaire. Between 14 and 17 months, the children's everyday interaction experiences (maternal responsiveness and involvement) were observed at home. At 24 months, the children's social competence (responsiveness, use of social resources) and the quality of maternal behavior (responsiveness, availability) were assessed in a laboratory play room. The children's social competence was positively related to the contemporary (24 months) as well as the preceding (during the second year) maternal behavior. High-quality maternal behavior during the second year was associated with the child's low perceived difficulty at 12 months. Relationships between child and mother behavior particularly occurred in situations providing some challenge to the child.