The associations of infant medical risk, prematurity, and maternal psychological distress with the quality of maternal-infant interactions during the first year of life were evaluated in a prospective, longitudinal follow-up from birth. A total of 103 high-risk very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, 68 low-risk VLBW infants without bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and ...

Although vocalization and mouthing are behaviors frequently performed by infants, little is known about the characteristics of vocalizations that occur with objects, hands, or fingers in infants' mouths. The purpose of this research was to investigate characteristics of vocalizations associated with mouthing in 6- to 9-month-old infants during play with a primary caregiver. Results suggest that...

OBJECTIVES Inadequate sleep during infancy is associated with adverse outcomes for infants and families. We sought to improve sleep behaviors and duration through a responsive parenting (RP) intervention designed for obesity prevention. METHODS The Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) study is a randomized trial comparing a RP intervention with a safety ...

Abstract Research studies on social robotics and human-robot interaction have gained insights into factors that influence people’s perceptions behaviors towards robots. However, adults’ of robots may differ significantly from those infants. Consequently, extending this knowledge also to infants’ attitudes toward is a growing field research. Indeed, infant-robot (IRI) emerging as critical necess...

Adults who move together to a shared musical beat synchronously as opposed to asynchronously are subsequently more likely to display prosocial behaviors toward each other. The development of musical behaviors during infancy has been described previously, but the social implications of such behaviors in infancy have been little studied. In Experiment 1, each of 48 14-month-old infants was held b...

In the present study, linkages were examined between parental behaviors (maternal practices) at bedtime, emotional availability of mothering at bedtime, and infant sleep quality in a cross-sectional sample of families with infants between 1 and 24 months of age. Observations of maternal behaviors and maternal emotional availability were conducted independently by 2 sets of trained observers who...

The experience of touch is critical for early communication and social interaction; infants who show aversion to touch may be at risk for atypical development and behavior problems. The current study aimed to clarify predictive associations between infant responses to tactile stimuli and toddler autism spectrum, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors. This study measured 9-month-old infants...

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common and debilitating mental health condition affecting many mothers worldwide. This review article aims to explore the complex effects of PPD on infants, focusing maternal care. The transition motherhood critical period characterized by numerous physical, psychological, social changes, making women vulnerable onset PPD. Consequently, can significantly impact ...

Given the overwhelming quantity of information available from the environment, how do young learners know what to learn about and what to ignore? We found that 11-month-old infants (N = 110) used violations of prior expectations as special opportunities for learning. The infants were shown events that violated expectations about object behavior or events that were nearly identical but did not v...