Home‐based intervention after discharge for Latino families of low‐birth‐weight infants

A home‐based intervention designed for impoverished Latino families of low‐birth‐weight infants was implemented, and the efficacy assessed for infants and mothers. Specially trained public health nurses visited the participants' homes for 4 months for the “short” and 12 months for the “extended” intervention groups. Mothers received support and training in infant care. A third group did not receive the intervention. Assessments were at 4‐ to 6‐month intervals from 1 to 24 months. Although the extended visitation group showed no benefits from the intervention, the short visitation group had higher scores on maternal confidence at one month, and on the Bayley Mental Scores at four months than the group receiving no intervention and extended intervention. The nonvisitation group scored significantly higher than both intervention groups on the HOME scores and on the Mother–Infant Interaction and Feeding scores at three different assessment periods. These data suggest that for poor Latino families home intervention is not beneficial across the board. Instead, efforts should be made to identify families that could benefit from intervention and to tailor the program to the specific needs of Latino families. © 2000 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Maternal well-being and sleep–wake behaviors in infants: An intervention using maternal odor

The development of an organized sleep–wake cycle in young infants is influenced by characteristics of both the infant and the parent, and by the nature of their dyadic interaction. Sleep–wake state organization is influenced first by homeostatic biological regulation, and later by socioemotional regulation. This report describes a feasibility study using an olfactory intervention designed to bridge the transition from physiologic to social regulation in sleep–wake state organization. A sample of 21 mother–infant dyads participated in an one year longitudinal study, after random assignment to either an experimental condition with a maternal odor-laden sleepaid, representational sleepaid (RSA) or a control condition with a neutral sleepaid, Sham Control (SC). Self-report questionnaires measured maternal psychological well-being, and video taping recorded infant sleep–wake behaviors repeatedly throughout the first year. RSA mothers reported significantly better levels of well-being throughout the year. At six and twelve months, mothers who reported more depressive feelings exhibited different nighttime interaction patterns. Infant sleep–wake state organization and sleepaid use changed significantly during the first year but were not altered by the intervention. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

A model‐based intervention for depressed mothers and their infants

Many studies have reported on the adverse effects of maternal depression on offspring. Infants of depressed mothers are found to be more likely at risk to develop mental and socioemotional problems. In this study, an early intervention program is presented that aims to improve the interaction between depressed mothers and their infants to prevent developmental problems in the children. The program has recently been introduced in the Dutch Community Mental Health Centers as part of a national multicomponent program to reduce the risk of psychiatric and social problems in the offspring of parents with a mental disorder. The intervention for depressed mothers with babies is based on a transactional model in which the mother–child interaction plays a key role in explaining the development of socioemotional problems in the children. The model as discussed in the first part of this article addresses a range of evidenced‐based parental, child, and contextual risk factors that effect the quality of the interactions between depressed mothers and their infants and that contribute to both vulnerability and resilience of the children during later childhood and adolescence. ©2005 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Sustained withdrawal behavior in clinic‐referred and nonreferred infants

To examine the relations between infants' sustained withdrawal behavior and children's mental health status and maternal and child relational behavior, 36 clinic‐referred and 43 control infants were evaluated. Families were visited at home, mother‐child free play and feeding interactions were videotaped, and mothers completed self‐report measures. Interactions were coded for sustained withdrawal using the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB; Guedeney and Fermanian, 2001) and for global relational patterns with the Coding of Interactive Behavior (CIB; Feldman, 1998). Higher ADBB scores were found for the referred group, with many infants (38.9% ) scoring above the clinical cutoff (vs. 11.6% in the control group). More negative relational patterns were found for the withdrawn group in terms of higher maternal intrusiveness, lower reciprocity, and lower child involvement. Associations were found between maternal and child behavior during play and feeding and child sustained withdrawal behavior at play. Sustained withdrawal also was associated with unpredictable child temperament and lower sense of parental self‐efficacy. Maternal depressive symptoms were higher in the referred group and correlated with maternal and child relational patterns. The findings contribute to the construct and discriminant validity of the CIB and the ADBB coding systems, and suggest that sustained withdrawal may serve as a risk indicator for early socioemotional disorders.     

Enhanced gaze‐following behavior in Deaf infants of Deaf parents

Gaze following plays a role in parent–infant communication and is a key mechanism by which infants acquire information about the world from social input. Gaze following in Deaf infants has been understudied. Twelve Deaf infants of Deaf parents (DoD) who had native exposure to American Sign Language (ASL) were gender‐matched and age‐matched (±7 days) to 60 spoken‐language hearing control infants. Results showed that the DoD infants had significantly higher gaze‐following scores than the hearing infants. We hypothesize that in the absence of auditory input, and with support from ASL‐fluent Deaf parents, infants become attuned to visual‐communicative signals from other people, which engenders increased gaze following. These findings underscore the need to revise the ‘deficit model’ of deafness. Deaf infants immersed in natural sign language from birth are better at understanding the signals and identifying the referential meaning of adults’ gaze behavior compared to hearing infants not exposed to sign language. Broader implications for theories of social‐cognitive development are discussed. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/QXCDK_CUmAI     

Self‐ and maternal representations,relatedness patterns,and problem behavior in middle childhood

The present study investigated the association between children’s representations of their mothers’ and teachers’ reports of children’s problem behavior. The research team conducted semistructured narrative interviews with a community sample of 203 Israeli 9‐ to 11‐year‐old children. Ten months later, researchers collected teachers’ reports of children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. This study investigated whether children’s self‐representation narratives and their maladaptive relatedness stances questionnaire scores mediated this association. Results indicated that children reporting benevolent representations of their mothers exhibited lower levels of problem behavior. More positive self‐representations and lower levels of skewness in children’s relatedness stances to their mothers both mediated this association. This article includes a discussion of these results in light of factors contributing to maladjustment in middle childhood.     

Preventing preschool externalizing behavior problems through video‐feedback intervention in infancy

In the present study (1) intervention effects on children's preschool behavior problems were evaluated in a high risk sample with an overrepresentation of insecure adult attachment representations in 77 first‐time mothers, and (2) predictors and correlates of child problem behavior were examined. Early short‐term video‐feedback intervention to promote positive parenting (VIPP) focusing on maternal sensitivity and implemented in the baby's first year of life significantly protected children from developing clinical Total Problems at preschool age. Also, compared with the control group, fewer VIPP children scored in the clinical range for Externalizing Problems. No intervention effects on Internalizing clinical problem behavior were found. The VIPP effects on Externalizing and Total clinical Problems were not mediated by VIPP effects on sensitivity and infant attachment or moderated by mother or child variables. Maternal satisfaction with perceived support appeared to be associated with less children's Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems. More research is needed to find the mechanisms triggered by VIPP, but the outcomes could be considered as promising first steps in the prevention of disturbing, externalizing behavior problems in young children.     

Executive cognitive functioning mediates the relation between language competence and antisocial behavior in conduct‐disordered adolescent females

The purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether adolescent females with a conduct disorder (CD) demonstrate inferior language skills and lower executive cognitive functioning (ECF) compared with controls and (2) whether the relations between language abilities and different forms of antisocial behavior (ASB) are mediated by ECF. Language skills were measured using the Test of Language Competence–Expanded, ECF was measured using multiple neuropsychological tests, and ASB was assessed using various self‐report and psychiatric interview indices reflecting mild delinquency to severe violence. Subjects were 223 adolescent females with a CD and 97 normal controls ranging between 14 and 18 years of age (N = 320). The CD group demonstrated significantly poorer language skills and lower ECF compared with the controls. Moreover, even when controlling for chronological age and socioeconomic status, ECF still fully mediated the relations between language competence and each measure of ASB. The results are discussed in relation to a neurobehavioral model of ASB. Aggr. Behav. 26:359–375, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Changes in the affect of infants before and after episodes of crying

This study examined the affect of infants just before the onset of crying and just after crying stopped. Two infants (between 7 and 14 months old) were observed longitudinally. In total, 102 crying episodes were analyzed. The infants displayed negative affect almost always just before starting to cry and soon after crying terminated. However, there were exceptions. Positive affect was observed. These were crying behaviors that the mother identified as “fake crying” or “emergence of fake crying”. These data indicate that, although normally infant affect just before and right after crying is negative, infants also can exhibit positive affect when they show fake crying. Infants who are capable of fake crying might communicate successfully with their caregivers.     

A pilot study of a family‐focused intervention for children and families affected by maternal depression

A non‐experimental pilot study examined child, mother and family outcomes of a 10‐session multi‐family group intervention designed to reduce risk and promote resilience for mothers with depression and their families. Positive changes following the Keeping Families Strong intervention included mother‐reported decreases in child behaviour and emotional problems, improvements in the quality of family interactions and routines and improvements in their own well‐being and support from others. Children (9–16 years) reported decreased internalizing symptoms, improved coping, increased maternal warmth and acceptance and decreased stressful family events. Attendance and mother‐reported satisfaction were high, indicating the perceived value of the intervention.     

Improving outgroup attitudes in schools: First steps toward a teacher‐led vicarious contact intervention

Despite the urgent need for promoting positive intergroup relations in schools, research on intergroup relations is not systematically translated into prejudice‐reduction interventions. Although prejudice‐reduction interventions in schools based on indirect contact have been conducted for decades, they have all been carried out by researchers themselves. In a field experiment in Finland in autumn 2015, we tested for the first time a vicarious contact prejudice‐reduction intervention for its effectiveness among adolescents (N = 639) when implemented independently by school teachers instead of researchers. In addition, we tested the extent to which the intervention's effect depends on initial outgroup attitudes, previous direct outgroup contact experiences, and gender, hypothesizing that the intervention improves outgroup attitudes particularly among adolescents with more negative prior attitudes and less positive prior direct contact, and more among girls than among boys. We found an unanticipated overall deterioration in the outgroup attitudes during intervention in both the experimental and control groups. However, attitudes seemed to deteriorate somewhat less in the experimental than in the control group, and the intervention had a significant positive effect on outgroup attitudes in one experimental subgroup that needed it most: girls who had negative rather than positive outgroup attitudes at the outset. We discuss our results in light of previous research and contextual particularities.     

A meta‐analysis of home visiting programs: Moderators of improvements in maternal behavior

A meta‐analysis of home visiting programs for at‐risk families (K = 35, N = 6,453) examined differences in the effects of programs on maternal behavior. On average, programs with more frequent visitation had higher success rates. The frequency of home visits explained significant variance of effect sizes among studies in the United States, with two visits per month predicting a small, substantive effect. Intensive programs or programs with at least three visits per month were more than twice as effective as were less intensive programs. Home visiting programs using nurses or mental health professionals as providers were not significantly more effective than were programs using paraprofessionals. In general, programs showed a positive effect on maternal behavior, but programs with frequent home visits were more successful.     

Attachment in low‐SES rural Appalachian infants: Contextual,infant, and maternal interaction risk and protective factors

Attachment classifications were obtained for 95 low‐socioeconomic‐status (SES) rural Appalachian infants in the Strange Situation procedure at 15 months. The distribution of secure (B) and insecure (A, C, D) infants was similar to other low‐SES samples and significantly different from low‐risk samples. Levels of contextual and infant risk, together with maternal responsiveness to crying and pattern of sensitivity from 4 to 9 months, predicted attachment security. High social support, when examined as a protective factor, related to reduced contextual risk, but not to increased likelihood of security. Exploratory discriminant function analyses showed that infants in secure relationships differed in positive directions on contextual and maternal interactional factors. Insecure‐organized (A and C) infants experienced contextual and maternal interaction risks, while insecure‐disorganized (D) infants were best distinguished by infant characteristics, including greater likelihood of being male and low use of mother as a secure base at 9 months. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

The relation between early mother–infant skin‐to‐skin contact and later maternal sensitivity in South African mothers of low birth weight infants

The relation between early mother–infant skin‐to‐skin contact (SSC) and mothers' subsequent sensitivity to their low birth weight infants was investigated in a study of 12 mother–infant dyads who participated in a South African randomized control study of early SSC. The dyads were visited in the home when infants were under 1 year. Amounts of SSC were taken from hospital records and home interviews. Videotapes of mother–infant interactions in the home were scored for maternal sensitivity on the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (D.R. Pederson, G. Moran, & S. Bento, 1999) and the Maternal Behavior subscale of the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (G. Sumner & A. Spietz, 1994). Amount of SSC in infants' first 24 hr correlated with amount of SSC through the first month. Amount of SSC in infants' first 24 hr independently accounted for maternal sensitivity on both measures, indicating that early mother–infant SSC predicted subsequent maternal sensitivity.     

Evaluating a home‐based dyadic intervention: Changes in postpartum depression,maternal perceptions,and mother–infant interactions

Psychotherapeutic treatments that focus on improving the relational processes between mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) and their infants, as well as the mother's individual therapeutic needs, have a great potential to positively impact the mother, her infant, and their relationship (K.J. Nylen, T.E. Moran, C.L. Franklin, & M. O'Hara, 2006 ). Utilizing pilot data from an evaluation of a home‐based dyadic therapy for mothers with PPD and their infants, this article reports on a recent academic–community partnership study. The effectiveness of the intervention was examined, specifically regarding changes in mother's mood, parenting experience, and relationship with her infant. In addition, associations were examined among maternal self‐report variables measuring change from pre‐ to posttreatment in PPD, psychological distress, and maternal perceptions of parenting and those variables measuring change in observer ratings of maternal–infant interactions. Results showed improvements in mothers' depression, distress, and perceptions of parenting as well as many ratings of mothers' interactions with their infants. However, only improvements in maternal perceptions of parenting, such as maternal self‐esteem and parenting stress, were associated with better mother–‐infant interactions. Importance of this research for the field of infant mental health as well as clinical implications are discussed.     

Fourteen‐month‐old infants learn similar‐sounding words

Can infants, in the very first stages of word learning, use their perceptual sensitivity to the phonetics of speech while learning words? Research to date suggests that infants of 14 months cannot learn two similar‐sounding words unless there is substantial contextual support. The current experiment advances our understanding of this failure by testing whether the source of infants’ difficulty lies in the learning or testing phase. Infants were taught to associate two similar‐sounding words with two different objects, and tested using a visual choice method rather than the standard Switch task. The results reveal that 14‐month‐olds are capable of learning and mapping two similar‐sounding labels; they can apply phonetic detail in new words. The findings are discussed in relation to infants’ concurrent failure, and the developmental transition to success, in the Switch task.     

母性应激对母性行为和心理功能的影响

成为母亲对女性而言是人生经历的特殊阶段, 她们在这个阶段发生的生理和心理的适应性改变对其自身和子代健康具有重要意义。母性应激是阻碍母亲适应性改变顺利进行的重要因素。母性应激会破坏人类母亲和雌性哺乳动物的母性行为、认知功能和情绪调节, 这种影响与糖皮质激素、催产素、催乳素等内分泌系统的调节失常; 母性环路、边缘系统及前额叶皮质等神经环路对刺激的神经反应改变以及神经发生、树突和突触重塑的可塑性变化有关。     

Attachment and preschool children's understanding of maternal versus non‐maternal psychological states

There is growing evidence that insecurely attached children are less advanced in their social understanding than their secure counterparts. However, attachment may also predict how individual children use their social understanding across different relationships. For instance, the insecure child's social‐cognitive difficulties may be more pronounced when the psychological states of an attachment figure are being considered. In the current study, forty‐eight 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children were asked about their mothers' emotions and false beliefs, as well as those of non‐attachment figures. The Separation Anxiety Test (SAT) was administered to assess children's attachment representations. Children's SAT scores predicted their overall performance on the false belief and causes of emotion tasks, even after controlling for age and verbal ability. More interestingly, however, children with high scores on the Avoidance dimension of the SAT experienced greater difficulty understanding maternal false beliefs relative to those of an unfamiliar adult female. Thus, although attachment insecurity may hinder social‐cognitive development in general, the findings suggest that there are more specific effects as well. Attachment representations that are characterized by high levels of avoidance appear to interfere with children's ability to fully engage their social‐cognitive skills when reasoning about maternal mental states.