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AIM To determine the effectiveness of two instructional guides to obtain video recordings for the General Movements Assessment (GMA). METHODS A cross-sectional study of a community sample of family participants with low-risk term newborn infants recruited via social media and randomly allocated to receive one of two instructional guides (detailed or quick versions) to film their infant's movements at home. Participants returned videos via a secure Research Electronic Database Capture link and videos were scored for quality across 10 criteria, along with scoring the GMA. Participants were surveyed about their perceptions of the instructional guides and electronic file transmission. RESULTS Seventy-six parents of infants were enrolled and randomly allocated to receive detailed (n = 38) and quick (n = 38) instructions to film their infant for a GMA. Videos were returned by 87% (95% confidence interval (CI) 72%, 96%) of detailed instruction users and 84% (95% CI 69%, 94%) of quick instruction users. The GMA could be conducted on all returned videos. The mean score for video quality was 9.9/10 (standard deviation 0.4, 95% CI 9.7, 10.0) for detailed instructions and 9.7 (standard deviation 0.6, 95% CI 9.4, 9.9) for quick instructions. Overall, participants felt that either instructional guide was easy to use. Fifteen (20%) participants had difficulties with video file transmission, requiring additional support. CONCLUSIONS Parents can successfully use one of two different instructional guides for filming their infant's movements for GMA; however, support should be provided for safe and easy file transmission.

Visual attention both guides and is guided by learning and memory systems. In this article, we use a multiple-memory systems framework to examine the inter- play between attention and memory that begins in early postnatal life. We review how attention and memory inter- act to support infant development with respect to percep- tual learning about objects and features, item-in-context spatial memory, and reinforcement and reward learning. We argue that the multiple-memory systems approach offers a useful organizational structure for research on interactions between attention and memory.

Disrupted maternal interaction in early infancy is associated with maladaptive child outcomes. Thus, identifying early risk factors for disrupted interaction is an important challenge. Research suggests that maternal depressive symptoms and maternal cortisol dysregulation are associated with disrupted maternal interaction, but both factors have rarely been considered together as independent or interactive predictors of disrupted interaction. In a sample of 51 women, hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) and depressive symptoms were assessed during pregnancy, and depressive symptoms were assessed again at 4-month postpartum. Maternal disrupted interaction was assessed during the Still-Face Paradigm at 4 months. Results indicated that HCC and depressive symptoms interacted to predict both maternal withdrawing and inappropriate/intrusive interaction. Withdrawing interaction was associated with high levels of HCC in pregnancy in the context of high depressive symptoms at 4 months; inappropriate/intrusive interaction was associated with high levels of HCC in the context of low depressive symptoms. Thus, high HCC potentiated both forms of disrupted interaction. Results raised questions about the meaning of very low reported depressive symptoms, and underscored the importance of chronic stress physiology and maternal depressed mood as risk factors for distinct forms of maternal disrupted interaction, both of which are deleterious for infant development.

Tummy time involves placing an infant in a prone position to help build muscle strength. Pediatricians recommend tummy time because it helps with infant development related to milestones such as crawling, rolling over, and sitting up. However, parents sometimes avoid tummy time due to whining or crying when the infant is placed in the prone position. The current study compared two interventions incorporating preferred leisure items (i.e., varied or constant) for five typically developing infants to increase head elevation and decrease negative vocalizations during tummy time. Improvements occurred in infant performance regardless of the preferred items used. In addition, the mothers who implemented the tummy time procedures found the treatment to be socially valid and were more likely to select the use of the constant item when given the opportunity to choose.

Study of emerging sleep-wake patterns in neonates is important for promptly identifying and treating abnormal sleep behaviours to ensure healthy infant development and neurobehavioral outcomes. Current methods to assess sleep are costly, labour intensive, and particularly difficult to implement in fragile, hospitalised infants requiring intensive medical care. The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of actigraphy as a tool for detecting sleep in preterm infants, using polysomnography (PSG) as the "gold standard". A total of 10 neonates (mean [SD] 35.8 [1.2] weeks post-menstrual age; five female) hospitalised since birth for prematurity each participated in one 8-10 hr session during which PSG and actigraphy were recorded simultaneously. Inter-feed minute-by-minute PSG Sleep-Wake scores were compared to concurrent actigraph epochs categorised as either "Sleep" or "Wake" using three separate movement-per-minute thresholds (≤20, ≤40, ≤80). Tool validity was assessed using five metrics. A key finding was that for each of the movement thresholds there was high agreement rate, sensitivity, and predictive value of sleep (85.2%-97.2%), whereas specificity and predictive value of wake remained low (12%-46%). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis also revealed low discriminatory power of actigraphy for estimating sleep (area under the curve = 0.636; Youden's Index J = 0.2173). Lack of sufficient minutes of autonomous wake periods among infants was identified as a key limitation in actigraphy. Findings from the present study suggest actigraphy cannot be validated for Sleep/Wake discrimination in preterm infants and that proper validation requires sufficient data from periods of both Sleep and Wake.

Little is known about the development of higher-level areas of visual cortex during infancy, and even less is known about how the development of visually guided behavior is related to the different levels of the cortical processing hierarchy. As a first step toward filling these gaps, we used representational similarity analysis (RSA) to assess links between gaze patterns and a neural network model that captures key properties of the ventral visual processing stream. We recorded the eye movements of 4- to 12-month-old infants (N=54) as they viewed photographs of scenes. For each infant, we calculated the similarity of the gaze patterns for each pair of photographs. We also analyzed the images using a convolutional neural network model in which the successive layers correspond approximately to the sequence of areas along the ventral stream. For each layer of the network, we calculated the similarity of the activation patterns for each pair of photographs, which was then compared with the infant gaze data. We found that the network layers corresponding to lower-level areas of visual cortex accounted for gaze patterns better in younger infants than in older infants, whereas the network layers corresponding to higher-level areas of visual cortex accounted for gaze patterns better in older infants than in younger infants. Thus, between 4 and 12months, gaze becomes increasingly controlled by more abstract, higher-level representations. These results also demonstrate the feasibility of using RSA to link infant gaze behavior to neural network models. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/K5mF2Rw98Is.

Manual skills such as reaching, grasping, and exploring objects appear months earlier in infancy than locomotor skills such as walking. To what extent do infants incorporate an old skill (manual actions on objects) into the development of a new skill (walking)? We video recorded 64 sessions of infants during free play in a laboratory playroom. Infants' age (12.7-19.5 months), walking experience (0.5-10.3 months), and walking proficiency (speed, step length, etc.) varied widely. We found that the earlier developing skills of holding and exploring objects are immediately incorporated into the later developing skill of walking. Although holding incurred a reliable cost to infants' gait patterns, holding and exploring objects in hand were relatively common activities, and did not change with development. Moreover, holding objects was equally common in standing and walking. However, infants did not interact with objects indiscriminately: Object exploration was more frequent while standing than walking, and infants selectively chose lighter objects to carry and explore. Findings suggest that the earlier appearance of some skills may serve to motivate and enrich later appearing skills.

"Back to sleep" messages can reduce prone practice for infants, with potential for motor delay and cranial deformation. Despite recommendations for "tummy time," young infants fuss in prone, and parents report uncertainty about how to help infants tolerate prone positioning. We hypothesized that a Child'Space Method lesson, teaching proprioceptive touch and transitions to prone, would facilitate prone tolerance, parent behavioral support, and parent self-efficacy. This randomized study recruited parents (N = 37) of 2- to 5-month-old infants. On two visits, parents answered questions about infant behavior and parent experience, and played with their infant. Lesson group parents had the lesson following the first free play. One week later, lesson parents reported that infants tolerated more prone time and that parents showed more supportive behaviors in bringing infant to prone, as compared to waiting parents. Lesson parents' efficacy, and infant behavior during play, trended in the hypothesized direction. The study demonstrated how a lesson in preparatory touch, and gradual transitions, promoted infant prone tolerance and also parent support of rolling, side-lying, and prone positioning. The lesson could be incorporated in parent education and early pediatric visits, helping infants and parents negotiate the prone challenge and setting the stage for further parent support of infant development.Los mensajes de “volver a dormir” pueden reducir la práctica de la posición boca abajo para los infantes, con la posibilidad de un retraso motor y deformación craneal. A pesar de las recomendaciones para “mantener el bebé boca abajo,” los pequeños infantes se molestan en la posición boca abajo, y los padres reportan incertidumbre acerca de cómo ayudar a los infantes a tolerar la posición boca abajo. Nuestra hipótesis es que una lección del Método Espacial del Niño, enseñando un toque propioceptivo y transiciones a la posición boca abajo, facilitaría la tolerancia de esa posición, el apoyo de los padres al comportamiento, y la autoeficacia del progenitor. Este estudio con selección al azar reclutó padres (N = 37) de infantes de 2-5 años de edad. En 2 visitas, los padres respondieron preguntas acerca del comportamiento del infante y la experiencia de los padres, y jugaron con sus infantes. Los padres del grupo de lección recibieron la lección a continuación de la primera sesión de juego libre. Una semana después, los padres del grupo de lección reportaron que los infantes toleraron más tiempo en la posición boca abajo, y que ellos mismos mostraron más conductas de apoyo al poner a sus infantes en esa posición, comparados con los padres que estaban esperando. La eficacia de los padres del grupo de lección, y la conducta del infante durante el juego, tendió a seguir la dirección de la hipótesis. El estudio demostró cómo una lección en toque preparatorio, y transiciones graduales, estimuló la tolerancia del infante a la posición boca abajo, y también el apoyo de los padres a las posiciones de dar vueltas, descansar sobre un lado del cuerpo o estar boca abajo. La lección pudiera ser incorporada en la educación a los padres y en las visitas pediátricas tempranas, ayudando de esa manera a infantes y padres a arreglárselas mejor con el reto de la posición boca abajo y estableciendo el terreno para promover más el apoyo de los padres al desarrollo del infante.Les messages « Retour au sommeil » peuvent réduire du positionnement sur le ventre / en décubitus ventral pour les bébés, avec un potentiel de retard moteur et de déformation crânienne. En dépir des recommandations de « temps sur le ventre », les jeunes bébés sont agités dans le positionnement sur le ventre et les parents font état d'incertitude sur la manière d'aider les bébés à tolérer le positionnement sur le ventre. Nous avons fait l'hypothèse qu'une leçon Child'Space Method, enseignant le geste proprioceptif et les transitions au positionnement sur le ventre, faciliterait la tolérance au positionnement sur le ventre, le soutien comportemental du parent, et l'auto-efficacité du parent. Cette étude randomisée a recruté des parents (N = 37) de nourrissons de 2-5 mois. Lors de 2 visites les parents ont répondu à des questions sur le comportement du bébé et l'expérience du parent, et ont joué avec leur bébé. Les parents du groupe leçon ont eu une leçon après la première séance de jeu libre. Une semaine plus tard les parents ayant reçu la leçon ont rapporté que les bébés toléraient mieux le moment de positionnement sur le ventre et les parents ont fait preuve de plus de comportements de soutien pour guider le bébé à cette position, comparés aux parents attendant. L'efficacité des parents à la leçon et le comportement du nourrisson durant le jeu allaient dans le sens de la direction de l'hypothèse, L’étude démontre comment une leçon en geste préparatoire et transitions graduelles a promu la tolérance du bébé à cette position et aussi le soutien parental au positionnement de roulage, de position couchée sur le côté et sur le ventre. Cette leçon pourrait être incorporé dans l’éducation parentale et les premières visites pédiatriques, aidant les bébés et les parents à négocier le défi posé par la position couché sur le ventre et ouvrant la voie à une soutien supplémentaire du parent au développement du bébé.“Back to sleep”-Botschaften können dazu führen, dass weniger Übungen in Bauchlage bei Säuglingen praktiziert werden, was mit dem Risiko für motorische Verzögerungen und Schädeldeformationen einhergehen kann. Trotz Empfehlungen zur “tummy time” sind junge Säuglinge anfällig für Bauchschmerzen und Eltern berichten von Unsicherheiten darüber, wie sie Säuglingen helfen können, die Bauchlage zu tolerieren. Wir haben angenommen, dass eine Lektion der „Child'Space Method“ - die propriozeptive Berührungen und Übergänge in die Bauchlage vermittelt - die Toleranz der Bauchlage, unterstützendes Elternverhalten und die Selbstwirksamkeit der Eltern begünstigen würde. Diese randomisierte Studie rekrutierte Eltern (N = 37) von 2-5 Monate alten Säuglingen. Im Rahmen von zwei Besuchen beantworteten die Eltern Fragen zum Verhalten der Säuglinge und zu Erfahrungen als Eltern und spielten mit ihrem Säugling. Die Eltern der Übungsgruppe hatten die Lektion nach dem ersten freien Spiel. Eine Woche später berichteten die Eltern der Übungsgruppe, dass ihre Säuglinge die Bauchlage länger tolerierten und die Eltern unterstützten ihre Säuglinge mehr, in Bauchlage zu gelangen, verglichen mit den auf die Intervention wartenden Eltern. Die Wirksamkeit der Eltern und das Verhalten der Kinder während des Spiels tendierten in die angenommene Richtung. Die Studie zeigte wie eine Lektion in vorbereitender Berührung und schrittweisen Übergängen, die Toleranz der Bauchlage beim Säugling und auch die Unterstützung der Eltern bei der Roll-, Seiten- und Bauchlagerung förderte. Die Lektion könnte in die Elternbildung und in frühe pädiatrische Besuche integriert werden, indem Säuglingen und Eltern geholfen wird, die Herausforderung der Bauchlage zu meistern und die Voraussetzungen für eine weitere Unterstützung der kindlichen Entwicklung durch die Eltern geschaffen werden.一緒に、タミー・タイムに移ろう: 触れることと移行が親の自信と乳児の発達を助ける 「眠るときは仰向けに」のメッセージは、乳児のうつ伏せの練習を減少させ、運動遅滞や頭蓋変形のリスクを伴う。「タミー・タイム」が推奨されながら、乳児がうつぶせにされると苛立ち、親はどうしたらうつ伏せのままでいられるよう助けてあげられるかわからない、と報告している。我々は、固有知覚にはたらきかける接触と、うつ伏せへの移行のし方を教えるChild'Space Methodのレッスンがうつ伏せへの耐性、親の行動支援、親の自己効力感を促進すると仮説を立てた。この無作為化された研究では、月齢2～5か月の乳児の親(N = 37)を募集した。2回の参加において、親は乳児の行動と親の体験についての質問に答え、わが子と遊んだ。レッスンを受けるグループの親は、最初の自由遊びに引き続いてレッスンを受けた。1週間後、待機グループの親に比べて、レッスングループの親は、乳児が今までより長くうつ伏せでいられると報告し、親は乳児をうつ伏せに持っていくのに、より多くの援助のしぐさを示した。レッスングループの親の効力感、遊びの間の乳児の行動は、仮説を指示する傾向を示した。この研究では、うつ伏せを始める前の触れ方とゆっくりと変えていくことについてのレッスンが、いかに乳児のうつ伏せへの耐性、また寝返り、側臥位、うつ伏せの親の援助を促進するかが示された。レッスンは、親教育や早期の小児科受診、乳児と親がうつぶせ姿勢への挑戦を乗り越えていけるように支援すること、そして乳児の発達への親のさらなる援助を設定していくこともできるであろう。.共同融入肚子時間:觸摸和過渡幫助父母的信心和嬰兒發展 “回到睡眠”信息可以減少嬰兒的俯臥行為, 可能導致動作發展遲緩和顱骨變形。儘管有關於“肚子時間”的建議, 但年幼的嬰兒容易出現問題, 父母並報告不知如何幫助嬰兒容忍俯臥位。我們假設兒童空間方法課程, 教授本體感受觸覺和過渡到俯臥行為, 將促進容忍俯臥丶父母支持行為和父母自我效能。這項隨機研究招募了2-5個月大嬰兒的父母 (N = 37) 。在2次訪問中, 父母回答有關嬰兒行為和父母經歷的問題, 並與他們的嬰兒一起玩耍。第一場自由玩耍後, 課程組的父母上了課。一周之後, 與等待組的父母相比, 課程組的父母報告說, 嬰兒較易忍受較多的俯臥時間, 父母並表現較多的支持行為。課程組父母的自我效能和遊戲中的嬰兒行為, 趨向假設的方向。本研究表明, 預備性觸摸和逐漸過渡促進嬰兒忍受俯臥, 以及父母對滾動丶側臥和俯臥的支持。這課程可以納入父母教育和早期兒科就診, 幫助嬰兒和父母應付俯臥挑戰, 並為父母進一步支持嬰兒發展奠定基礎。.وقت ألعاب البطن مع الطفل: اللمس والمراحل الانتقالية تعزز ثقة الوالدين ونمو الرضيع رسائل “العودة إلى النوم” يمكن ان تقلل من ممارسة الرضيع لوضع الاستلقاء على البطن ، مما يعمل على تأخير النمو الحركي وتشوه الجمجمة. وعلي الرغم من التوصيات المتعلقة بأهمية “وقت البطن” للرضع ، فان الأطفال يتذمرون من وضع الاستلقاء على البطن ، والوالدين يبلغون عن عدم اليقين حول كيفية مساعدة الرضع علي تحمل هذا الوضع. نفترض في هذه الدراسة ان استخدام منهج مساحة الطفل (Child'Space) ، والتدريب على الإحساس باللمس والمراحل الانتقالية لوضع الاستلقاء كلها عوامل تساعد على تحمل الطفل لوضع الاستلقاء والدعم السلوكي الوالدين ، والكفاية الذاتية للوالدين. اشتملت عينة الدراسة على آباء وأمهات (N = 37) لرضع في أعمار من 2 إلى 5 شهور. بدأت الدراسة من خلال زيارتين أجاب فيها الوالدان علي اسئله حول سلوك الرضيع وتجربة الرعاية الوالدية ، كما قاما باللعب مع رضيعهما. وبعد أول جلسة لعب حر حصلت أحد المجموعات على الدرس الخاص بتدريب الطفل على استخدام حواسه. وبعد أسبوع ، أفاد الاباء ان الرضع كانوا أكثر تقبلا لمزيد من وقت الاستلقاء على البطن ، كما أظهر الآباء والأمهات سلوكيات أكثر دعما في توجيه الطفل لوضع الاستلقاء ، بالمقارنة مع الاباء الذين لم يتلقوا دروسا في هذا الأسلوب. أوضحت النتائج أن كفاية الآباء في مجموعة التدريب وسلوكيات الطفل أثناء اللعب كانت في الاتجاه المتوقع للدراسة. وأظهرت الدراسة كيف ان تقديم الدروس في كيفية التعامل باللمس مع الرضع ، والانتقال التدريجي يعزز تحمل الرضيع لوضع الاستلقاء ، وأيضا دعم الوالدين لوضع التقلب ، والنوم على الجانبين ، والاستلقاء على البطن . ويمكن ادراج هذا الدرس في تعليم الوالدين والزيارات المبكرة للأطفال ، مما يساعد الأطفال الرضع والاباء علي مناقشة صعوبات هذا الوضع ويتيح المجال لمزيد من دعم الوالدين لنمو الرضيع.

Objective This study assesses whether increased exposure to allomaternal care (AMC, or non-maternal care) is associated with improved infant motor and social milestone attainment. Methods Typically developing infants aged 13-18 months (n = 102) were assessed by their mothers using the previously validated National Center for Health Statistics' Motor and Social Development Scale (MSD). AMC exposure from birth to present was quantified using four AMC predictor components. Results Exposure to Highly Involved Familial AMC has a significant medium effect on MSD score, such that infants experiencing more of this type of care score higher. Conclusions Familial AMC is associated with improved milestone attainment, suggesting that learning experiences are enhanced by these interactions, although further cross-cultural studies are needed. If future studies confirm the positive effects of AMC interactions on early developmental outcomes, this may help explain the selective pressures for extensive AMC.

Aim This study aimed to investigate developmental outcomes of Japanese babies born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) at ages 2 and 3. Methods The data were gathered from 1085 children in a hospital-based cohort study conducted in Japan. The children's level of development was assessed through a parent-rated questionnaire, the Kinder Infant Development Scale, which consists of nine developmental domains. We compared the development of children born through ART and those born naturally by conducting analyses of covariance. For the analyses, the effect of maternal age, family income, parental education and multiple birth were controlled for. Results At 24 months, no significant difference was found between children born through ART and those born naturally in development in any domain. At 36 months, a significant difference was found in development of Receptive language (F (1, 845) = 6.148, P = 0.013), Expressive language (F (1, 845) = 4.060, P = 0.044) and Language concept (F (1, 845) = 6.968, P = 0.008). For these domains, children born through ART had a significantly higher developmental age compared to children born naturally. Conclusion At age 2, no significant difference was found between the children born through ART and those born naturally in nine developmental domains, although at age 3, the children born through ART showed significantly better language development than the children born naturally.

We systematically reviewed how effectively maternal voice interventions supported the clinical outcomes and development of preterm infants. A total of 512 preterm infants were included in 15 studies with different designs, from January 2000 to July 2015. Live and recorded maternal voice interventions were associated with the physiologic and behavioural stabilisation of preterm infants, with fewer cardiorespiratory events, but the evidence was insufficient to evaluate the long-term effects. Well-defined determinants and clear setting conditions are needed for such interventions. Conclusion Further research that investigates the long-term efficacy and effects of live maternal voices on preterm infant development is needed.

Relations between maternal mind-mindedness (appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments), children's age-2 perspective-taking abilities, and attachment security at 44 (n = 165) and 51 (n = 128) months were investigated. Nonattuned comments predicted insecure preschool attachment, via insecure 15-month attachment security (44-month attachment) and poorer age-2 perspective-taking abilities (51-month attachment). With regard to attachment stability, higher perspective-taking abilities distinguished the stable secure groups from (a) the stable insecure groups and (b) children who changed from secure to insecure (at trend level). These effects were independent of child gender, stressful life events, and socioeconomic status (SES). The contribution of these findings to our understanding of stability and change in attachment security from infancy to the preschool years is discussed.

Background The 3D Cohort Study (Design, Develop, Discover) was established to help bridge knowledge gaps about the links between various adverse exposures during pregnancy with birth outcomes and later health outcomes in children. Methods Pregnant women and their partners were recruited during the first trimester from nine sites in Quebec and followed along with their children through to 2 years of age. Questionnaires were administered during pregnancy and post‐delivery to collect information on demographics, mental health and life style, medical history, psychosocial measures, diet, infant growth, and neurodevelopment. Information on the delivery and newborn outcomes were abstracted from medical charts. Biological specimens were collected from mothers during each trimester, fathers (once during the pregnancy), and infants (at delivery and 2 years of age) for storage in a biological specimen bank. Results Of the 9864 women screened, 6348 met the eligibility criteria and 2366 women participated in the study (37% of eligible women). Among women in the 3D cohort, 1721 of their partners (1704 biological fathers) agreed to participate (73%). Two thousand two hundred and nineteen participants had a live singleton birth (94%). Prenatal blood and urine samples as well as vaginal secretions were collected for ≥98% of participants, cord blood for 81% of livebirths, and placental tissue for 89% of livebirths. Conclusions The 3D Cohort Study combines a rich bank of multiple biological specimens with extensive clinical, life style, and psychosocial data. This data set is a valuable resource for studying the developmental etiology of birth and early childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes.

A multifaceted, relationally focused intervention involving group and individual pre- and postnatal counseling, print resources, and community resources encouraged 390 fathers of newborn infants in Vietnam to responsively support mothers and work with them as a parenting team. Both partners completed questionnaires prebirth and 1-, 4-, and 9-months postbirth on measures of breastfeeding support, exclusive breastfeeding duration, relationship quality, and infant development. Compared to 412 comparison group couples, intervention couples evidenced greater father support, especially in terms of helping and responsiveness to the mother's needs. This support predicted longer exclusive breastfeeding duration, improved relationship quality, and higher levels of infant development at 9 months. Sensitively working together with mothers as a coordinated team enhanced couple's relationship functioning and improved children's developmental outcomes.

Given the economic implications of a low-fertility rate, many countries have implemented paid maternity leave to promote births. However, the efficacy of this policy is mostly unknown. We examined whether paid maternity leave in South Korea, which has a fertility rate among the lowest in the world, is directly related to infant development and employed mothers' second-birth intentions, and indirectly associated with these outcomes via parenting stress. Participants included 315 married and employed Korean mothers in the months after giving birth to their first child. Paid maternity leave was beneficial for infant development but was not a solution for promoting second-birth intentions among employed mothers in Korea. Parenting stress adversely affected both infant development and employed mothers' second-birth intentions, and it may therefore need to be considered as work–family policies, fertility issues, and infant development in families are addressed. Implications considering cultural and familial contexts are discussed.

Parenting self-efficacy (PSE) includes parents' self-perceptions regarding their capabilities in performing the numerous and changing tasks associated with parenting a specific child (i.e., domain-specific PSE) as well as their self-perceptions in the parenting role overall (i.e., domain-general PSE). Prior literature has demonstrated PSE's relations with numerous constructs significant to mental health and the parent-infant relationship. Prior measures of PSE have been limited by focusing on only domain-specific or domain-general PSE, ignoring the importance of infant development to PSE, and other psychometric limitations. This article presents sound psychometric data for a new measure of PSE, the Assessment of Parenting Tool (APT). The APT includes task-level items on the Domain-Specific subscale (APT-DS) for each age-referenced version of the measure as well as a domain-general subscale that taps overall PSE within the first 24 months' postpartum. Initial construct validity of the measure is established, particularly for parents of infants aged 3 months and older. A stable, three-factor structure for the domain-general subscale includes "coping with being a parent," "attuned parenting," and "self-perceived model parenting." Future directions for the APT, including a revised checklist format for the domain-specific subscale, are included.

Aim To elucidate the gross motor function and general development of babies born after assisted reproductive technology (ART). Material and Methods The study subjects comprised 238 babies born after ART and 365 babies as the control. Multiple births, premature and low birth weight babies were excluded. Questionnaires were distributed to mothers and gross motor function and general development were evaluated according to the Ability for Basic Movement Scale for Children (ABMS-C) and Kinder Infant Development Scale (KIDS), respectively. Results There were no significant differences in gross motor function according to the ABMS-C between the two groups at one, three, six, nine and 12 months of age. The KIDS scores on subscales of expressive language at three months, manipulation at nine months and the total developmental quotient, and subscales of manipulation, receptive language and social relationships with children at 12 months were significantly higher in the ART than in the control group. Conclusions There was no significant difference in gross motor function up to 12 months of age between the ART and control groups. However, the total developmental quotient and scores on linguistic and communication capacity of children at 12 months of age were significantly higher in the ART group. These results suggested that ART has no adverse effects on intellectual function, at least during early infancy.

Important developments in executive function (EF) are thought to occur during the second year of life but few tools exist to assess EF in this period. We argue that, to be effective, tasks for this age range need to reduce the abstract nature of the task rules, and reduce reliance on verbal instruction. We present The Grasping Task, which uses familiar objects presented in such a way as to communicate the rules of the task to infants with no need for verbal instruction or abstraction. A longitudinal validity study of infants from 12 to 24 months old showed the Grasping Task at 12 months predicted children’s performance on delay tasks and scores on the BRIEF-P Inhibition scale at 24 months, but were unrelated to scores on the BSID-III at 18 months, suggesting the task is capturing an aspect of early inhibitory development that is distinct from general cognitive functioning.

Aim This study explored Jordanian mothers' knowledge of infants' childrearing practices and developmental milestones, the socio-demographic variables of relevance to knowledge, and sources of information that guide childrearing practices. Background Parents' knowledge is considered the frame of reference for parents' interpretations of their children's behaviors and provides the basis for having the appropriate expectation of the child's developmental stage. Parents' knowledge of childrearing is essential for children's physical, cognitive and emotional development. Methods A cross-sectional design using a modified version of MacPhee's ‘Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory’ was used to assess 400 mothers' knowledge of infants' childrearing and developmental milestones, in Amman, Jordan. Results Mothers were found to be more knowledgeable in physical and safety skills and less in cognitive, emotional, and parent-infant interaction skills. Parental age, education, parity and planned pregnancy had limited influence on developmental milestones knowledge. Formal and informal sources of information were used conforming to traditional societies. Discussion and conclusion Results were congruent with findings from other studies in the region and similar traditional societies. Results allude to conclusion that mothers resort to informal sources and traditional practices to replace formally structured programmes when absent. Implications for nursing and health policy Healthcare professionals, nursing schools and healthcare policy makers are encouraged to develop and institute a holistic approach encompassing physical, cognitive, emotional and parent-infant interaction domains in childrearing educational programmes. Structured parenting programmes for mothers and culturally accepted sources of information for fathers are essential to enhance parenting skills among Jordanian couples.

There is controversy about fish-oil supplementation and oxidative damage. This ambiguity should be explored to elucidate its role as modulator of oxidative stress, especially during gestation and postnatal life. This is the objective of this study. One hundred ten pregnant women were divided in two groups: control group CT (400mL/day of the control dairy drink); supplemented group FO (400mL/day of the fish oil-enriched dairy drink (+/- 400-mg EPA-DHA/day)). Different biomarkers of oxidative damage were determined in the mother's at enrolment, at delivery and at 2.5 and 4months postpartum and newborns at delivery and at 2.5months postpartum. Omega-3 LC-PUFA supplementation during pregnancy and lactation decreased plasma hydroperoxides especially in newborn at delivery (P=0.001) and 2.5months (P=0.006), increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in mothers at delivery (P=0.024 (SOD)) and after 2.5months (P=0.040 (CAT)) and in newborns at 2.5months (P=0.035 (SOD); P=0.021 (CAT)). Also, supplementation increased -tocoferol in mothers at 2.5months (P=0.030) and in umbilical cord artery (P=0.039). Higher levels of CoQ10 were found in mothers at delivery (P=0.039) as well as in umbilical cord vein (P=0.024) and artery (P=0.036). Our supplementation prevents the oxidative stress in the mother and neonate during the first months of postnatal life, being a potential preventive nutritional strategy to prevent functional alterations associated with oxidative stress that have an important repercussion for the neonate development in the early postnatal life.

Previous studies in infants have shown that face-sensitive components of the ongoing electroencephalogram (the event-related potential, or ERP) are larger in amplitude to negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger) versus positive emotions (e.g., happy). However, it is still unclear whether the negative emotions linked with the face or the negative emotions alone contribute to these amplitude differences. We simultaneously recorded infant looking behaviors (via eye-tracking) and face-sensitive ERPs while 7-month-old infants viewed human faces or animals displaying happy, fear, or angry expressions. We observed that the amplitude of the N290 was greater (i.e., more negative) to angry animals compared to happy or fearful animals; no such differences were obtained for human faces. Eye-tracking data highlighted the importance of the eye region in processing emotional human faces. Infants that spent more time looking to the eye region of human faces showing fearful or angry expressions had greater N290 or P400 amplitudes, respectively.

The early development of prosocial behavior has become a major topic in developmental psychology. Although findings on the early presence of prosocial tendencies in infants and toddlers have received much attention and the examination of their subsequent developmental pathways has fostered ample research, little is known about the mechanisms and motives that bring about the first emergence of these prosocial actions. In this article, I introduce and review theoretical approaches, then evaluate them in light of recent findings. I conclude that the forms of early prosocial behavior are related to different social-cognitive mechanisms and underpinned by various motives.

The present study investigated how 6- and 9-month-old Caucasian infants scan Caucasian and Chinese dynamic faces using eye-tracking methodology. Analyses of looking times revealed that with increased age, infants decreased their looking time to other-race noses, while maintaining their looking time for own-race noses. From 6 to 9 months, infants increased their looking time for the eyes of both races of faces. Analyses of scan paths showed that infants were no more likely to shift their fixation between the eyes of own-race faces than other-race faces. Similarity between participants' scan paths suggested that facial information was collected more efficiently for own- versus other-race faces at 9 months of age. Combined with previous eye-tracking studies of infants' face scanning (Liu et al. [2011] Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 108, 180-189; Wheeler et al. [2011] PLoS ONE, 6, e18621. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018621; Xiao et al. [2013] International Journal of Behavioral Development, 37, 100-105), the findings are interpreted in the context of perceptual narrowing and suggest differential contributions of visual experience, facial physiognomy, and culture in accounting for similarity and difference in infants scanning of own- and other-race faces.

National Science Foundation (BCS-1219368); National Geographic Society (9053-11); German Science Foundation (HU1746-2 & 3); het Vreedefonds; Stichting Fundatie van de Vrijvrouwe van Renswoude te‘s-Gravenhage; Stichting Jo Kolk Studiefonds; de Stichting dr.Hendrik Muller's VaderlandschFonds; Wenner-Gren Foundation; L.S.B. Leakey Foundation; National Science Foundation (BCS- 0621020); the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation; Zoological Society of San Diego

In this interview with Warren Colman, James Astor speaks about his development as a Jungian analyst from his own experience of personal analysis in the 1960s to his recent retirement from clinical practice. The discussion covers his long association with Michael Fordham, the child analytic training at the SAP, the infant observation seminars with Fordham and Gianna Henry through which Fordham was able to make new discoveries about infant development, his experience of supervision with Donald Meltzer and the development of his own thinking through a series of papers on the analytic process, supervision and the relation between language and truth. The interview concludes with reflections about the legacy of Michael Fordham and the future of analytic work.

A wealth of evidence supports the developmental period as being an important determinant for future health status, as well as life expectancy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Large numbers of infants and toddlers have parents who live apart due to separation, divorce, or nonmarital/noncohabiting child-bearing, yet this important topic, especially the controversial issue of frequent overnights with nonresidential parents, is understudied. The authors analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal investigation of children born to primarily low-income, racial/ethnic minority parents that is representative of 20 U.S. cities with populations over 200,000. Among young children whose parents lived apart, 6.9% of infants (birth to age 1) and 5.3% of toddlers (ages 1 to 3) spent an average of at least 1 overnight per week with their nonresident parent. An additional 6.8% of toddlers spent 35% - 70% of overnights with nonresident parents. Frequent overnights were significantly associated with attachment insecurity among infants, but the relationship was less clear for toddlers. Attachment insecurity predicted adjustment problems at ages 3 and 5, but frequent overnights were not directly linked with adjustment problems at older ages.

Although it is well accepted that parents greatly impact infant development, it is less clear which factors impact change in quantity and quality of parenting across infancy. This longitudinal study (N = 120 families) investigated how infant temperament and marital adjustment related to trajectories of mother and father involvement and sensitivity across infancy using multilevel models. Parental involvement (caregiving and play), infant temperament (surgency, negative affectivity, regulation), and marital adjustment were assessed from questionnaires when the infant was 3, 5, 7, 12, 14, and 20 months of age; parental sensitivity was coded from two episodes of the Still-Face Paradigm in early infancy (3, 5, and 7 months). On average, mothers showed higher levels of caregiving, play, and sensitivity than fathers. Mother caregiving, play, and sensitivity increased over time. Father caregiving and play also increased over time, whereas sensitivity did not change with age. Happier marriages were related to increased play for both mothers and fathers. Infant surgency was also significantly related to caregiving, play, and sensitivity trajectories for mothers but not fathers. Findings are discussed in relation to parenting roles and family dynamics.

Children participating in the Ben-Gurion Infant Development Study were assessed with a dynamic-tracking version of the stop-signal task at the age of 5 years. The sample consisted of 60 males. Stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) was correlated with concurrent ratings of the child's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Paternal symptoms measured in the child's early infancy predicted the child's performance in the stop-signal task: Paternal inattentiveness predicted SSRT, whereas hyperactivity predicted error proportion. Maternal symptoms were not correlated with the performance of the child in the task. A subsample of children, who were tested while electrophysiological brain activity was measured, showed that having higher ADHD symptomatology, especially hyperactivity, correlated with less activity in the brain areas that are usually recruited by children for successful inhibition.

Creativity is an essential human ability, allowing adaptation and survival. Twenty-three 1-year-olds and their parents were tested on divergent thinking (DT), a measure of creative potential counting how many ideas one can generate. Toddlers’ and parents’ DT was moderately to highly correlated. Toddlers showed a wide range of DT scores, which were reliable on re-testing. This is the first study to show children think divergently as early as 1 year. This research also suggests 1-year-olds’ DT is related to parents’, opening up future research into whether this relationship is due to genetics, and/or social learning at its emergence. Understanding DT at its emergence could allow for interventions while neurological development is most plastic, which could improve DT across the lifespan.

Parenting behaviors and parent-infant emotional bonding during the early postpartum months play a critical role in infant development. However, the nature and progression of parental thoughts and their relationship with interactive behaviors have received less research. The current study investigated the trajectory of parental thoughts and behaviors among primiparous mothers (n = 18) and fathers (n = 15) and multiparous mothers (n = 13) and fathers (n = 13), which were measured at the first and third postpartum month. At the third postpartum month, the relationship between parental thoughts and parental interactive behaviors also was tested. Mothers and fathers showed high levels of preoccupations and caregiving thoughts during the first postpartum month that significantly declined by the third postpartum month. In contrast, positive thoughts about parenting and the infant increased over the same time interval. Mothers presented higher levels of preoccupations and positive thoughts than did fathers, and first-time parents reported more intense preoccupations than did experienced parents. Although maternal sensitivity was inversely related to maternal anxious thoughts, paternal sensitivity was predicted by higher levels of anxious as well as caregiving and positive thoughts.

Growing research suggests that socialization toward independence with a focus on ‘separate individuality’ may be a culture specific rather than universal socialization goal. Among Latino families, children of mothers high in formal schooling have shown more independent and less coordinated patterns of interaction than children of mothers low in formal schooling. This longitudinal research explored the balance between independence and coordination during mother–child interaction around distress by examining age-related changes and within-group variation among Latino children. Fifty Latino dyads were videotaped during unstructured interactions in their homes at 14 and 24 months of age. Episodes of distress were identified and then classified according to individual contributions and coordination (e.g. [child] independent, mother-led, coordinated). Coordinated and independent resolutions were the most frequent type at both ages. To examine the balance between these for each child, a proportion of episodes resolved in each type was calculated. Children in both groups (high maternal schooling, low maternal schooling) increased in coordination, but only children with higher maternal schooling also increased in independent resolutions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The current study explored whether birth timing, known to influence the mother-infant relationship, also affected infant physiology up to 9 months later and infant behavior at weaning. Infant blood samples were collected at 5.75 and 8.75 months of age to assess functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as well as the antibody response to a Cholera vaccination. Path analysis indicated infants born late in the birth season had less Relaxed relationships with their mothers. A less-Relaxed relationship was associated with greater infant Positive Engagement and Distress, which were negatively correlated, suggesting infants may have different strategies of coping with this type of relationship. Low Relaxed scores were also associated with higher infant cortisol concentrations at 5.75 months, which was associated with a reduced immune response to a vaccination 3 months later. Together these results indicate that the influence of birth timing on the mother-infant relationship may have consequences for infant development.

Placing infants in a prone position for "tummy time" often is recommended to ensure appropriate infant development and to combat the effects associated with infants spending extended periods of time in a supine position. However, tummy time may be associated with inappropriate infant behavior such as crying and noncompliance. We provided continuous access to a preferred stimulus to decrease negative vocalizations and to increase the duration of an infant's head being elevated during tummy time.

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the motivations behind, and the function of, infant pointing behaviour. Many studies have converged on the view that early pointing reflects a motivation to share attention and interest with others. Under one view, it is the sharing of attention itself that is the ultimate function of pointing, and is an early manifestation of a uniquely human social cognition that is geared towards cooperation and collaboration. In the current study, we tested an alternative hypothesis in which the goal of pointing is not attention sharing itself, but the information-laden response that infants tend to receive as a result of sharing attention. If infants indeed point in order to obtain information, their pointing should be modulated by the perceived ability of the other to provide this information. In Experiment 1, 16-month-olds who interacted with a demonstrably knowledgeable experimenter pointed significantly more to novel objects than infants who interacted with an ignorant experimenter. In Experiment 2, we confirmed that this finding was due to the perceived competence of the experimenter rather than to the different ways in which the experimenter responded to infants’ points. Our results suggest that one function of pointing in infancy is to obtain information from others, and that infants selectively elicit desired information from those whom they perceive could competently provide it.

The present experiment examined whether 9-month-old infants’ mental rotation ability was related to their crawling ability. Forty-eight 9-month-old infants were tested; half of them crawled for 7.1 weeks on average. Infants were habituated to a video of a simplified Shepard–Metzler object rotating back and forth through a 240° angle around the longitudinal axis of the object. Infants were tested with videos of the same object rotating through the previously unseen 120° angle and with the mirror image of that display. The results showed that the crawlers looked significantly longer at the mirror object than at the familiar object. The results support the interpretation that crawling experience is associated with 9-month-old infants’ mental rotation ability.

Synchrony, a concept coined by the first researchers on parenting in social animals (Rosenblatt, 1965; Schneirla, 1946; Wheeler, 1928), describes the dynamic process by which hormonal, physiological, and behavioral cues are exchanged between parent and young during social contact. Over time and daily experience, parent and child adjust to the specific cues of the attachment partner and this biobehavioral synchrony provides the foundation for the parent–infant bond (Fleming, O’Day, & Kraemer, 1999). Affiliative bonds—defined as selective and enduring attachments—are formed on the basis of repeated exposure to the coordination between physiological states and interactive behavior within each partner, between partners, and between the physiology of one and the behavior of the other. Such social bonds, in turn, set the framework for the infant’s emotional development and shape the lifelong capacity to regulate stress, modulate arousal, and engage in coregulatory interactions, achievements that are central components of the child’s social– emotional growth (Feldman, 2007a). Moreover, the experience of biobehavioral synchrony in the first months of life sets the biological and behavioral systems that enable the child to provide optimal parenting to the next generation, thereby forming the cross-generation transmission of attachment patterns (Feldman, Gordon, & Zagoory-Sharon, 2010a). During the sensitive period of bond formation, infants’ brains are sensitized to the mutual influences between physiological systems, behavioral indicators, and their interactions. Studies in mammals propose that this process of synchrony—the system’s sensitivity to the coordination of physiology

Recent work provides evidence that expectations regarding a fair (i.e., equal) distribution of goods and resources arise sometime in the second year of life. To investigate the developmental trajectory of fairness expectations, and their potential relation to prosocial behavior, infants participated in a violation-of-expectancy (VOE) paradigm designed to assess expectations regarding how resources are typically distributed, and in a sharing task, an informational helping task, and an instrumental helping task. Infants’ expectations regarding resource distribution showed age-related changes between 12 and 15 months, with only 15-month-old infants showing greater attention to unfair (unequal) over fair (equal) outcomes in the VOE. Individual differences in infants’ sensitivity to unfair outcomes were related to infants’ willingness to share a preferred toy. In contrast, helping behavior was unrelated to infants’ sensitivity to unfair outcomes and did

Behaviors emerge, in part, from the interplay of infant abilities and caregiver–infant interactions. Cross-cultural and developmental studies suggest caregiver handling and positioning influence infant development. In this prospective, longitudinal study, the effects of 3 weeks of enhanced handling and positioning experiences provided to 14 infants versus control experiences provided to 14 infants at 2 months of age were assessed with follow-up through 15 months of age. Behaviors in prone were immediately advanced. Short-term advancements occurred in multiple behaviors, including prone, head control, reaching, and sitting behaviors. Longer term advancements, up to 12 months after the experience period, occurred in object transfer, crawling and walking behaviors. This suggests broad and long-lasting changes can arise via brief periods of change in caregiver–infant interactions.

A pilot baby clinic in a hostel for homeless families has been established to address the specific attachment and developmental needs of infants living in temporary accommodation. The aim of this study was to assess whether this clinic model was associated with more positive outcomes than mainstream community services in terms of infant development and parent-infant interactions.

The current longitudinal study examined trajectories of child negative emotionality, parenting efficacy, and overreactive parenting among 382 adoptive families during infancy and toddlerhood. Data were collected from adoptive parents when the children were 9-, 18-, and 27-month-old. Latent growth curve modeling indicated age-related increases in child negative emotionality and overreactive parenting for adoptive fathers and adoptive mothers (AM), and decreases in parent efficacy among AM. Increases in child negative emotionality were also associated with increases in parent overreactivity and decreases in maternal efficacy. Mothers' and fathers' developmental patterns were linked within but not across parenting domains. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Studies on early development have demonstrated the profound effects of early social experience on the behavioral development and physiology of young rhesus macaques. Given these relationships, we hypothesized that rhesus macaques exposed to different nursery-rearing conditions may develop unique biobehavioral profiles. If this is true, the assessment of temperament may allow us to pinpoint successful rearing environments, thus improving the overall health of non human primates that are raised in captive environments. We conducted biobehavioral assessments in order to examine differences in the development of infants raised under four different peer-rearing conditions (continuous pairing, intermittent pairing, continuous pairing with partner rotation, and intermittent rotational pairing) and compared these animals with data from a mother-reared control group. Overall, continuous-rotationally paired animals were most similar to mother-reared controls on most behavioral and temperament measures, suggesting that more socially complex rearing environments (greater number of social partners) favor a more active behavioral style. Cortisol profiles of mother-reared controls were similar to both continuous pairing groups, and these three groups had higher cortisol concentrations than the intermittent rotational-pairing group. In addition, intermittently paired infants displayed a significantly higher frequency of self-stroke behavior during a human intruder challenge, an abnormal behavior also known as floating limb which has been shown to be a precursor of self-biting. Overall, the data are consistent with the idea that social complexity in the nursery, as operationalized in our continuous rotational pairing, leads to a biobehavioral profile that is most similar to that of infants raised by their mothers in large, socially complex, cages.

Aim: To investigate the impact of premature birth on visual tracking in a group of 37 infants, born before the 32nd gestational weeks (mean 29 + 6 weeks) and diagnosed as being without major neona ...