Mirjami Mäntymaa

Mother's early perception of her infant's difficult temperament, parenting stress and early mother–infant interaction

The current study investigated factors contributing to mothers early perception of her infants difficult temperament. One hundred and twenty-four mother–infant dyads participated in the study. Mothers perception of the infants temperament was assessed with the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ). The influence of mother–infant interaction, mothers mental health and parenting stress were investigated. Mother–infant interaction was videotaped during a face-to-face interaction and analysed using the Global Rating Scale. Mothers mental health was assessed through a structured interview (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, SCID) and parenting stress was examined by a questionnaire (Parenting Stress Index). First, the difficultness scale of the ICQ was used as a continuous variable and factors contributing to mothers perception of her infants temperament as more or less difficult were examined. Secondly, infants were categorized into difficult and non-difficult, and factors increasing the infants risk of being perceived as difficult were examined. The model including mothers mental health and parental distress accounted for 24% of the variance in perceived infant difficultness, with parental distress in particular being an influential contributor. When infants categorized as difficult were examined, mothers intrusiveness and infants poor interactive behaviour in early mother–infant interaction as well as parental distress significantly increased the infants risk of being perceived as difficult.

Serotonin and early cognitive development: variation in the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene is associated with visual attention in 7-month-old infants

BACKGROUND Allelic variation in the promoter region of a gene that encodes tryptophan hydroxylase isoform 2 (TPH2), a rate-limiting enzyme of serotonin synthesis in the central nervous system, has been associated with variations in cognitive function and vulnerability to affective spectrum disorders. Little is known about the effects of this gene variant on cognition during development and about possible intermediate developmental steps that lead to the adult phenotype. Here, we examined the hypothesis that the TPH2 -703 may act during early stages of development and bias the acquisition of elementary cognitive processes involved in attention and emotion regulation. METHODS Seven-month-old infants (n = 66) were genotyped for the TPH2 -703 G/T polymorphism (rs4570625) and tested for the efficiency of attention shifts from a stimulus at fixation to a new stimulus in the visual periphery. RESULTS Compared to TPH2 G/G homozygotes, infants with the T-carrier genotype exhibited a significantly higher number of missing attention shifts. This genotype effect tended to be particularly pronounced when infants had to disengage from an affectively salient stimulus before shifting attention to the peripheral stimulus. The results also showed that TPH2 genotype was indirectly associated, via its effect on attention disengagement, with temperamental emotion regulation (soothability). CONCLUSIONS Together, these results implicate serotonin system genes in early cognitive development and suggest variations in the early-emerging cognitive capacities as a potential developmental precursor of individual differences in emotion regulation and vulnerability to affective disorders.

A Longitudinal Study of Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Negative Expectations and Perceptions of Child Problems

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the associations between maternal depressive symptoms and perceptions of children’s problems. One hundred and nineteen mother–child dyads were followed from the third trimester of pregnancy for almost 10 years. Depressive symptoms and background factors of the mothers and the anticipated/perceived problems of their firstborn were assessed prenatally, postnatally, and when the child was 4–5 years and 8–9 years old. The simultaneous and long-term associations between maternal depressive symptoms and childs problems were examined. Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms, the continuity of negative expectations to postnatal problem perceptions, and high problem level at 4–5 years of childs age predicted high problem level in 8–9-year-olds.

Detecting infants in need : Are complicated measures really necessary?

The object of this paper was to study how the Baby Alarm Distress Scale (ADBB), developed as a simple screening tool for front line professionals working with infants, correlates with the more detailed assessment method of the Global Rating Scale (GRS) for Mother-Infant Interaction at two and four months. A sample of 127 eight- to eleven-week-old infants was videotaped in free interaction with their mothers, and infant interaction behavior was rated with both methods by independent researchers. Compared to the GRS infant scales the sensitivity of the ADBB, using the recommended cutoff point of 5 or more, was 0.77 and specificity 0.80. In further analyses it was found that deviant ratings of two items of the ADBB, the quality of eye contact between the infant and the caregiver and assessment of the sense of relationship between the infant and the caregiver, were the items most strongly associated with poor interaction skills of the infant on the GRS. Mothers of infants found deviant in the ADBB performed more poorly in the interaction with their infants when compared to mothers of infants found healthy in the ADBB. For the purpose of detecting deviations in infant interaction skills as signs of possible problems in early parent-infant interaction the ADBB seems to be a sufficiently sensitive and specific instrument. However, the results of this study still need to be tested with larger samples and against other observation methods.

Child and Family Outcomes of the European Early Promotion Project

This chapter concerns the outcomes for the families involved in the European Early Promotion Project and presents data collected when the children were between six and eight weeks old and when they were 24 months old. A total of 824 families were recruited from the five countries involved. At baseline, differences were found between country samples in the extent and type of need (Finnish families having the lowest risk factor rates and Serbia the highest, for example), but recruitment was generally successful in including families from the whole range of need, excluding those with the most severe physical and psychiatric problems. Although not randomised, Intervention families (receiving the EEPP service) were reasonably matched with Comparison families (receiving usual services) on most variables initially, except in Greece, where Intervention families were somewhat more at risk. At 24 months, in spite of low intensity of service provision and methodological difficulties likely to reduce effects, there was evidence, particularly in Greece, of differences in outcome favouring the Intervention group, who also showed significantly higher levels of satisfaction with the intervention they had received. It was concluded that the service merits further exploration to assist in understanding promotional and preventative processes.

Cardiac and behavioral evidence for emotional influences on attention in 7-month-old infants

To examine the ontogeny of emotion—attention interactions, we investigated whether infants exhibit adult-like biases in automatic and voluntary attentional processes towards fearful facial expressions. Heart rate and saccadic eye movements were measured from 7-month-old infants (n = 42) while viewing non-face control stimuli, and neutral, happy, and fearful facial expressions flanked after 1000 ms by a peripheral distractor. Relative to neutral and happy expressions, fearful expressions resulted in a greater cardiac deceleration response during the first 1000 ms of face-viewing and in a relatively long-lasting suppression of face-to-distractor saccades. The results suggest that the neural architecture for the integration of emotional significance with automatic attentional orienting as well as more voluntary attentional prioritization processes is present early in life.

The Effects of the European Early Promotion Project Training on Primary Health Care Professionals

This chapter explores the effects of the European Early Promotion project training on primary health care professionals, with regard to their knowledge, self-efficacy and ability to identify need in families, and to their satisfaction with the training received. A quasi-experimental group comparison design was developed, in which an Intervention and a Comparison group were assessed twice: the Intervention group before and after the special EEPP training and the Comparison at the same time interval but without the training. Overall results show a tendency for the Intervention group to improve in knowledge and perceived self-efficacy, and a significant improvement in their accuracy of need identification in families, compared with the Comparison group. These results were more prominent in Greece, Serbia and the UK than in Finland and Cyprus, whereas training satisfaction was high in all sites. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for early intervention as well as for training PHCPs to conduct preventative and promotional work with families.

The European Early Promotion Project: Description of the Service and Evaluation Study

This chapter describes an innovative cross-cultural method of working with families to promote the psychosocial well-being of children and to prevent the development of psychological and social problems. It also presents a study designed to evaluate the effects of the service. Primary health care workers in five countries from Northern, Central and Southern Europe were trained to conduct promotional interviews with all prospective mothers in their area one month before and one month after birth. They were also taught to work with mothers identified as in need of support as a parent, by using a specific counselling model to try to prevent the onset of child mental health difficulties. Effects of the intervention on childrens psychological development and family adaptation were evaluated at two years of age in comparison with matched groups not receiving the intervention, using a set of questionnaires, interviews and observation methods. The total sample of the study at the initial assessment was 824 families, of which 705 (85.6%) were retained for the outcome assessment.

Fathers’ postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms: An exploration of links with paternal, maternal, infant and family factors

Abstract Background: Postnatal psychological symptoms have been studied less often in fathers than in mothers. However, recent research shows that fathers’ psychopathology may have long-term effects on their childrens emotional and behavioural development independently of maternal psychopathology. More research is needed on factors associated with paternal symptoms at the early stage of child development. Aims: The aim of the study was to examine the paternal, maternal, infant and family factors associated with the occurrence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in fathers of infants. Methods: As part of a study conducted in Tampere, Finland, on infants’ social withdrawal symptoms, both parents of 4-, 8- and 18-month-old infants (n = 194) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and general information questionnaires during routine check-ups of the infants in well-baby clinics. Parental depressive and anxiety symptoms were screened using the recommended cut-off points for this purpose (5/6 for fathers and 7/8 for mothers on the EPDS). The associations between the fathers’ symptoms and paternal, maternal, infant and family factors were explored. Results: Twenty-one per cent of the fathers and 24% of the mothers scored above the cut-off points for depressive and anxiety symptoms on the EPDS. Both paternal and maternal factors predicted high paternal symptom level in regression models. Infant factors were not statistically significantly associated with paternal symptoms. Conclusions: Fathers psychological symptoms were associated with many facets of both parents’ impaired well-being. The whole family system should be considered whenever there are concerns about either parents psychological well-being.

Early mother–infant interaction: associations with the close relationships and mental health of the mother

The present study examined the association between a womans close relationships and mental health and the quality of her maternal behaviour in early mother–infant interaction. A total of 131 mothers and their infants participated in the study. The quality of the mothers childhood relationship with her own mother and her marital relationship were investigated in a semi‐structured interview and, as a part of the interview, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV (SCID) was used to assess her mental health. Mother–infant interaction was videotaped at 8–11 weeks of the infants age, and scored using the Global Rating Scale for Mother–Infant Interaction. The mothers childhood relationship with her mother was significantly related to her own interactive and affective behaviour with her infant. A poor, disengaged marital relationship was also associated with poorer interactive behaviour but only among mothers with mental health problems. Thus the mothers close relationships had an effect on maternal behaviour; however, maternal perinatal psychopathology per se was not related to maternal behaviour at 2 months of the infants age.