A double-blind randomized controlled trial of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) supplementation or matching placebo during third trimester of pregnancy was conducted within the COPSAC[subscript 2010] mother-child cohort consisting of 736 women and their children. The objective was to determine if maternal n-3 LCPUFA pregnancy…

Early-life exposures are critical for later child cognitive development. McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) were used to assess cognitive development of 700 preschoolers (M[subscript age] = 4.2 years), derived from the "Rhea" birth cohort, in Greece. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on prospectively collected…

Associations among 53 primiparous women's Adult Attachment Interview classifications (secure-autonomous vs. insecure-dismissing) and physiological and self-reported responses to infant crying were explored. Heart rate, skin conductance levels, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were recorded continuously. In response to the cry,…

The behaviors of narcotics-addicted and nonaddicted newborns in the first 2 days of life were assessed and compared. (JMB)

Associations among adolescent attachment organization, maternal sensitivity, and infant attachment organization were examined prospectively in 72 teenaged mother-infant dyads. Pregnant teenagers' attachment organizations predicted both sensitivity and infant-mother attachments. Associations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment were…

A total of 403 black, inner-city infants born to women recruited prenatally on basis of their alcohol consumption during pregnancy were assessed on a battery of tests focusing on information processing and complexity of play. Increased prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with longer fixation duration, a result indicative of less efficient…

Attachment status of children exposed in utero to cocaine, opiates, and other substances was examined at 18 months (n=860) and 36 months (n=732) corrected age. Children exposed to cocaine and opiates had slightly lower rates of attachment security (but not disorganization), and their insecurity was skewed toward ambivalent, rather than avoidant,…

Compares 17 methadone-exposed and 23 control four-month-old infants in interactions with their mothers. Results indicate that methadone is only one of several risk factors affecting interaction. Mothers rated poor in communication have poor psychosocial and psychological resources, and infants rated poor in communication showed problematic motor…

Examined cardiac response and ratings of subjective aversiveness to recordings of unfamiliar infant cries in 60 primiparous women at 32 weeks' gestation. Mothers who prenatally rated the crying recordings as more aversive postnatally described their infants as more fussy and unpredictable. Women who showed greater cardiac acceleration to the cries…

Assessed the impact of parents' marriages on the parenting of firstborn three-month-olds. Concluded that mothers are warmer and more sensitive with infants than fathers are. Fathers hold more positive attitudes toward their infants and their roles as parents when they are in close, confiding marriages. (RH)

Presents longitudinal data regarding detrimental effects through 36 months of age on intellectual, behavioral, and social-interactional development in a nonsupportive caregiving environment, and the continuing amelioration of those effects in a supportive caregiving environment. Suggests that mothers of fetally malnourished infants may have had…

Findings indicate that high-risk infants are not exposed to greater exogenous stress during the prenatal and perinatal periods, although subsequent caregiving provided by disturbed mothers may not be optimal. Several findings point to the existence of a constitutionally vulnerable subgroup of high-risk infants. (Author/RH)