Recent high-risk longitudinal studies have documented a unique contribution of the quality of the early mother-child relationship to diverse forms of psychopathology in young adulthood, even with family economic status, later traumatic experiences, and some genetic factors controlled. In addition, measures of attachment-related deviations in caregiver-infant interaction predict more than measur...

Abstract Some studies indicate differences in self-regulatory behaviors of infants, depending on their gestational age. This paper aimed to compare interactive full-term and preterm infants the Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF) paradigm. Thirty prematurely born thirty were observed FFSF’s experimental procedure, which consists exposing infant two episodes interaction with mother plus another episo...

This study explored the dynamic interaction between a mother and her 11-month-old visually impaired infant before and after the mother was taught infant massage. After the mother learned infant massage, she had more appropriate physical contact with her infant, engaged with him within his field of vision, directly vocalized to him, and had a greater ability to read his cues; the infant's intera...

Background: Attachment style is the pattern of an individual in forming relationships with others, which is believed to be determined in the early years of life. Maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) is a term used to describe the relationship between a pregnant woman and her fetus. Qualitative descriptions of maternal attitudes and adaptation to pregnancy indicate that MFA is based on cognitive repr...

Survival of altricial infants depends on attachment to the caregiver - a process that requires infants to identify, learn, remember, and approach their attachment figure. Here we review the neurobiology of attachment in infant rats where learning about the caregiver is supported by a specialized attachment neural circuitry to promote the infant-caregiver relationship. Specifically, the attachme...