The relation between 3‐ and 15‐month olds' cry vocalizations and their mothers' affective involvement during inoculation

This study examined if infant immunization distress is related to their mothers' affective involvement prior to the injection. The duration of infant cry vocalizations and the amount of maternal behaviour before and after the syringe injection were observed in 18 mother–infant dyads, of whom nine comprised 3‐month‐old and nine 15‐month‐old infants. The maternal behaviour was scored in terms of various soothing strategies used to calm infants in distress. Infant cry duration, in both the 3‐ and the 15‐month olds, was associated with amount of maternal eye‐gaze before the injection. For the 15‐month olds, also face‐to‐face contact and rocking the infant was associated with more crying. Even though the small scale of the study warrants some caution in the interpretation, the overall findings suggest that young infants have a referential understanding of caregiver affective involvement prior to a stressor. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pick up the baby (or dire consequences will ensue)!

Abstract

Decades of psychoanalytic developmental studies on children one year of age and under point to the need for maternal soothing when the infant is crying. Contrary to behavioral theorists who recommend letting the infant “cry it out,” data from analytically informed researchers of very different orientations converge on the conclusion that rocking, feeding, and/or verbal soothing by the mothering figure are requisite to set the stage for good mental health during the rest of the child’s development.     

Vividness of positive mental imagery predicts positive emotional response to visually presented Project Soothe pictures

Lang's bioinformational theory of mental imagery proposes that mental imagery and external stimuli engage emotional information-processing systems in similar ways. However, the positive and negative systems are thought to be distinct, so this similarity is likely to show a valence-specific effect. Therefore, we hypothesized that an individual's ability to construct vivid positive, but not negative, mental imagery would predict positive emotional responding to positive visual stimuli, independently of depressive symptoms. Our stimuli were pictures collected through Project Soothe for possible use in psychotherapy ( www.projectsoothe.com ); as these pictures were intended to induce soothing emotion, we hypothesized that theoretically linked variables Self-compassion and Self-criticism would also predict positive responding to the stimuli. A total of 214 participants completed an online study including validated questionnaire measures, mental imagery tasks, and a picture-rating exercise. Only Positive Imagery Vividness and Self-compassion were significant predictors of positive responding to the soothing pictures, even controlling for depressive symptoms, and Negative and General Imagery Vividness. These findings support Lang's theory and provide evidence for individual differences in a positive processing tendency shared across mental imagery-based and perceptual representations. As this relationship is distinct from depressive symptoms, future imagery-based psychotherapies might aim to influence this positive processing tendency.     

The influence of brief episodes of aerobic exercise activity,soothing music-nature scenes condition,and suggestion on coping with test-taking anxiety

This study examines the influence of aerobic exercise activity, soothing musicnature scenes condition, and suggestion on coping with test-taking anxiety. Sixty test anxious subjects were randomly assigned to four treatment groups consisting of 15-min episodes of exercise or soothing music-nature scenes condition with or without verbal suggestion that the treatment task in which they were engaged would be helpful to them. A videotaped intelligence test used to stimulate test-taking anxiety was given to the subjects after the soothing music-nature scenes condition or exercise tasks. The Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist (MAACL) was used to appraise anxiety during the laboratory procedures. Results indicate that exercise, soothing music-nature scenes condition, and suggestion play a role in reducing anxiety. While relaxation activity proved to be superior to exercise in reducing anxiety immediately following the treatment episode, these differences disappear following exposure to a stressful IQ test and exercise (as well as suggestion) had a better stress inoculation effect than soothing music-nature scenes condition or no suggestion.     

Are babies sensitive to the context of acute pain episodes? Infant distress and maternal soothing during immunization routines at 3 and 5 months of age

Ninety‐three healthy full‐term Italian infants were observed longitudinally at 3 and 5 months during routine vaccinations. Mothers' behaviour was also observed. Participants were divided into two cohorts depending on procedure of inoculation (the first cohort, n=44, showed more distress; the second cohort, n=49, showed less distress). Results indicate that babies' different levels of behavioural distress correspond to mothers' different soothing strategies. Maternal proximal soothing at 3 months predicts faster infant quieting at 5 months, but concurrent and predictive effects of maternal proximity are apparent only when level of baby distress is not too high. The study confirms the view that young babies are sensitive to the overall context of acute pain episodes, including medical procedure and maternal soothing. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.