Less exploring by mouth occurs in newborns of depressed mothers

Twenty-four newborns (M age = 12 days) of depressed and nondepressed mothers were assessed for oral perception of a nubby and smooth texture. Both groups of newborns discriminated between these textures and showed a sucking preference for the smooth texture. However, the newborns of depressed mothers spent 50% less time orally exploring the stimuli, one-third less time exploring the more novel nubby texture, and 59% less time mouthing the smooth texture. Newborns of depressed mothers may have biological differences that affect their emotional arousal and emotional regulation (e.g., capacity for self-soothing). © 2000 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Affect (linguistics) · Arousal · Association (psychology) · Developmental psychology · Perception · Preference · Psychotherapist · Communication · Infant Health and Development · Language Development and Disorders · Medicine · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Neuroscience · Psychology