title: [The quality of body and gaze contact infants with and without regulatory disorder].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Numerous studies have emphasized the importance of body contact for health, regulation, and development of infants as well as for parent-child interaction. Especially for infants with regulatory disorders (such as excessive crying, sleeping, and feeding problems), high-quality physical contact would be desirable. Observations in the context of parental counseling suggest that precisely these infants have a poor quality of body and eye contact. The present study compares infants with and without regulatory disorders with respect to their body and eye contact.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quality of body contact and amount of eye contact were examined by means of video ratings of the mother-child interaction. In addition, we measured the daily amount of crying, sleeping, feeding, being fussy, and quiet play in an infant behavior diary.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Infants with regulatory disorders scored worse in body contact (p < .01) and gaze contact (p < .001). There were also significant differences in most of the diary variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Body and eye contact - basic communication skills - may be disturbed in infants with regulatory disorders, which could have an adverse effect on the regulation problems. Therapeutic interventions with affected children and their parents should aim at improving the ability of body and eye contact.
authors.affiliation: <location>Neuried</location>
authors.forename: Uta
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Streit
authors.affiliation: Vivantes-Klinikum im Friedrichshain, <location>Berlin</location>
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nantke
authors.affiliation: <location>Dörnick</location>
authors.forename: Fritz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D003448:Crying / Q000523:psychology*; D004505:Education, Nonprofessional; D019959:Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D020886:Somatosensory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D014741:Video Recording
keywords: Blickkontakt; Körperkontakt; Regulationsstörungen im Säuglingsälter; excessive crying; exzessives Schreien; eye contact; infant colic; physical contact; regulatory disorder