Emotional distress experienced by mothers increases young children's risk of externalizing problems through suboptimal parenting and child self-regulation. An integrative structural equation model tested hypotheses that mothers' parenting (i.e., low levels of inductive discipline and maternal warmth) would mediate adverse effects of early maternal distress on child effortful control, which in t...

—Maternal defensive behavior against predators may appear risky but is common in many species. Herein we describe maternal defensive behavior of mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) against Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) predatory attempts. We found that Golden Eagles attacked goats in 1.9% of sightings (n = 311 sightings of active Golden Eagles over 12 years) but were never successful. Mothe...

Maternal behavior in rabbits involves building a nest of straw and body hair inside an underground burrow, before parturition, and the display of a single, brief (ca. 3 min.), nursing bout per day throughout lactation. The onset and decline of digging, strawcarrying, and hair-pulling is controlled by specific combinations of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and prolactin (PRL). These horm...

A growing body of evidence suggests that parenting influences the development of youth callous unemotional (CU) behavior. However, less is known about the effects of parenting or contextual risk factors on 'limited prosocial emotions' (LPE), a recent conceptualization of CU behavior added to the DSM-5. We focused on LPE at ages 10-12 and age 20 among low income, urban males (N = 310), and exami...

We tested the hypotheses that 1) epidural anesthesia at parturition would block both peripheral and central release of oxytocin and eliminate the development of maternal behavior in primiparous heifers and 2) estradiol priming, genital stimulation, and appropriate neonatal stimuli would induce maternal behavior in nulliparous heifers. In experiment 1, primiparous crossbred heifers (n = 13) with...

The role of maternal care in mediating variation in offspring phenotype has been examined in the rat and demonstrates that mother-infant interactions are critical for inducing long-term changes in behavior. Though phenotypic differences between mice strains are often attributed to genetic factors, the influence of early maternal environment has not been extensively explored. To understand mater...

BACKGROUND Attachment theory's original formulation was substantially driven by Bowlby's (1969/1982) quest for a meaningful model of the development of psychopathology. Bowlby posited that aberrant experiences of parenting increase the child's risk of psychopathological outcomes, and that these risks are mediated by the quality of the attachment relationship. To empirically examine this hypothe...

Examined proximal and contextual factors most strongly related to externalizing behavior among young children growing up in low-income, mother-headed families. Participants were 50 low-income single mothers and their preschool-age children who were visited twice in the home setting. Measures of proximal (low levels of supportive parenting, high levels of punitive disciplinary practices, low lev...

Maternal behavior in mammals is the result of a complex interaction between the lactating dam and her developing offspring. Slight perturbations of any of the components of the mother-infant interaction may result in alterations of the behavior of the mother and/or of the offspring. We studied the effects of exposure of female CD-1 mice to the estrogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) during fetal ...

This study reports the development and validation of the 20 item Family Food Behavior Survey, a measure designed to assess broad components of the family food environment that may contribute to child overweight. In a diverse sample of 38 parents, factor analyses verified 4 domains: (1) maternal control of child eating behavior; (2) maternal presence during eating; (3) child choice, and (4) orga...