Infant's developmental trajectories in the first year of life

• Author(s): Costa, Raquel A.
• Date: 2010
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/10467
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Document Type: Doctoral thesis
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho; Figueiredo, Bárbara

Description

This study aims to (1) identify and profile groups of infants according to their psychophysiological characteristics, considering neurobehavior organization, social withdrawal behavior and neuroendocrine reactivity to stress, and (2) analyze group differences on the quality of mother-infant interaction, temperament and attachment. Method: Over the first year of life, 94 infants and their mothers participated in this study. Employing a longitudinal prospective design eight weeks-old infants were assessed with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS, Brazelton & Nugent, 1995) and the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB, Guedeney & Fermanian, 2001). Saliva samples were collected at 8 to 12 weeks old, both before and after routine inoculation for measuring cortisol levels. Mothers’ reports of infant temperament at 3 and 12 months were collected using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ, Rothbart, 1981). Mother infant interaction was evaluated at 12 to 16 weeks, using the Global Rating Scales (GRS, Murray, Fiori-Cowley, Hooper, & Cooper, 1996). The strange situation procedure (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) was performed to assess infant attachment style at 12 months. Results: Three groups of infants were identified: (1) “Withdrawn”; (2) “Extroverted”; (3) “Underaroused”. Differences between them were found regarding both infant and mother behaviors in the interaction and the overall quality of mother-infant interaction. Significant differences between groups were found on temperament at both 3 and 12 months. Stability was observed in most temperament dimensions from 3 to 12 months old, nonetheless mothers’ perception of infant temperament changed in terms of level of distress, cuddliness, sadness and approach. Both infant psychophysiological profile and mother-infant interaction interfered on the pattern of those changes. Additionally, infants’ psychophysiological profile had also a significant effect on the probability of having a secure attachment. The quality of mother-infant interaction differed in secure vs. insecure attached infants. Furthermore, the overall quality of mother-infant interaction mediated the association between infant’s psychophysiological profile and infant attachment, whereas mother behaviors in the interaction moderate this association. Conclusion: This study provides new data regarding the impact of infant characteristics early in life and the role of mother-infant interaction on developmental trajectories in the first year of life.