Maternal Type A behavior during pregnancy, neonatal crying, and early infant temperament: do type A women have type A babies?
It was hypothesized that type A behavior in pregnant women would be associated with increased neonatal crying and differential reports of infant temperament at 3 months. Type A behaviors during pregnancy were measured in a self-selected cohort of 72 healthy, primiparous, middle-class women. Their newborns were assessed at 48 hours of age and the women completed an infant temperament questionnaire at 3 months. Women who were classified as type A on the Job Involvement scale of the Jenkins Activity Survey had infants who cried more during a standardized neurobehavioral assessment compared with infants of women who were type B on the same scale. Women who were type A for Job Involvement rated their 3-month-old infants as more intense and less predictable in their responses to the environment. They were also more likely to be breast-feeding their infants at 3 months. This is the first study to examine the prevalence and nature of maternal type A behaviors during pregnancy and to show their relationship to neonatal crying behavior, to maternal report of early infant temperament, and to maternal breast-feeding.
Parker
S J
SJ
Department of Pediatrics, Boston City Hospital, MA 02118.
Barrett
D E
DE
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003448:Crying / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament; D014434:Type A Personality