These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: RECOGNIZING INFANTS' EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS: ARE ADOLESCENTS LESS SENSITIVE TO INFANTS' CUES?
    Author: Niessen A, Konrad K, Dahmen B, Herpertz-Dahlmann B, Firk C.
    Journal: Infant Ment Health J; 2017 Jul; 38(4):451-460. PubMed ID: 28665553.
    Abstract:
    Previous studies have shown that adolescent mothers interact less sensitively with their infants than do adult mothers. This difference might be due to developmental difficulties in the recognition of infants' emotional states in adolescents. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore differences in the recognition of infant signals between nonparous adolescent girls and boys as compared to female and male adults. To this end, we examined 54 childless adolescents and 54 childless adults (50% female). Participants were shown a series of 20 short videos of infants aged 3 to 6 months presenting different emotional states ranging from very distressed to very happy. In addition, participants were asked to report their own parental experiences using the German version, Fragebogen zum erinnerten elterlichen Erziehungsverhalten (J. Schumacher, M. Eisemann, & E. Brähler, ), of the Egna Minnen Befräffande Uppfostran (Own Memories of Parental Rearing Experiences in Childhood; C. Perris, L. Jacobsson, H. Lindstrom, L. von Knorring, & H. Perris, ). Adolescents rated distressed infants as more distressed than did the adults. Furthermore, female participants rated the very distressed infants as more distressed than did male participants. These data suggest that adolescents, in general, are not impaired in recognizing infant emotional states, as compared to adults. Thus, we suggest that more extreme ratings of infant signals of discomfort together with immature sociocognitive regulation processes during adolescence might contribute to reduced sensitivity observed in adolescent mothers.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]