Measuring night time parenting behavior of first-time adolescent and
adult mothers
W.A. Wetherall and J.J. McKenna
Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre
Dame, Indiana, IN, USA
Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Indiana,
IN, USA
While anthropological inquiry on parenting behaviors has contributed
a cross-cultural
perspective on the diverse approaches to childrearing, fewer studies have
focused on
nighttime caretaking practices and their effects on child development.
Research shows that
sensitive and responsive nighttime parenting may be as important as daytime
care when
it comes to the healthy physiological development of infants. Further
research has shown
that maintaining close proximity to infants at night may reduce the occurrence
of Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome.
A study conducted at The University of Notre Dame Mother-Baby Behavioral
Sleep Laboratory analyzed the nighttime parenting behavior and interactions
of first-time adolescent and adult mothers and their infants. Using overnight
infrared video recordings, questionnaires, and direct observations during
in-home assessments, data were collected from a sample of 24 adolescent
(mean 18.9 years) and 15 ethnically-matched adult (mean 25.2 years) motherinfant
dyads when the infants were four months old. During overnight sleep studies
participants were allowed to maintain normal nighttime caregiving routines
and sleeping arrangements, and performed all caregiver interventions at
will. Overnight sleep studies were coded using The
Observer® 5.0 (Noldus Information Technology bv, The Netherlands)
to measure frequency and duration of specific behaviors including awake
and asleep time of mother and infant, infant sleep location, position,
and orientation to mother, frequency of feedings and method, duration
of infant crying and mothers response, proximity of infant to mother,
affectionate care of infant, and any risks posed to infant during the
study.
This poster describes group differences and trends between solitary sleeping,
bed-sharing,
and room-sharing dyads in the form and frequency of particular behaviors,
including
nocturnal awakenings, physical proximity, responsiveness and affectionate
interaction.
Paper presented
at Measuring Behavior 2005
, 5th International Conference on Methods and Techniques
in Behavioral Research, 30 August - 2 September 2005, Wageningen, The
Netherlands.
© 2005 Noldus
Information Technology bv
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