The effects of sex, birth order and admission to a special care baby unit on the fear of strangers reaction of infants.
The fear-of-stranger reaction was studied in 65 babies at seven, eight and nine months of age. It was more marked in first-born babies and in girls, and developed earlier in girls than boys. The type of response was independent of the sex of the stranger. Babies who had been in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) tended to show less fear of strangers than controls, especially at seven months, and whereas later-born control girls were significantly more fearful of strangers than later-born control boys, this difference was not apparent in the group who had been in the SCBU. It is suggested that the difference is due to later-born girls who had been admitted to SCBU receiving relatively more social stimulation from their mothers.
D001722:Birth Order; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors