title: The effect of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on infants' response to the Still Face Task from newborn to three months of age.
abstract: The effect of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on infants' developing social expectations for maternal behavior was investigated longitudinally over infants' first 3 months. Infants with and without skin-to-skin contact engaged with their mothers in the Still Face Task at ages 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. Infants with skin-to-skin contact began responding to changes in their mothers' behavior with their affect at 1 month; infants without skin-to-skin contact did so at 2 months. At 3 months, infants with skin-to-skin contact increased their non-distress vocalizations during the still face phase, suggesting social bidding to their mothers. Skin-to-skin contact accelerated infants' social expectations for their mothers' behavior and enhanced infants' awareness of themselves as active agents in social interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada. abigelow@stfx.ca
authors.forename: Ann E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Bigelow
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Power
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012867:Skin; D012919:Social Behavior; D013997:Time Factors; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult