Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:24:58.034Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vagal tone in infants of depressed mothers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Tiffany Field ,
Jeffrey Pickens ,
Nathan A. Fox ,
Thomas Nawrocki  and
Jeanette Gonzalez
Tiffany Field*
Affiliation:
Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Jeffrey Pickens
Affiliation:
James Madison University
Nathan A. Fox
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, Institute for Child Study
Thomas Nawrocki
Affiliation:
Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Jeanette Gonzalez
Affiliation:
Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
*
Tiffany Field, Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, P.O. Box 016820, Miami, FL 33101.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Emotional reactivity and expressivity in infants have been previously correlated with vagal tone. This study investigated vagal tone of 3- and 6-month-old infants of depressed mothers. Vagal tone did not differ for infants of depressed versus nondepressed mothers at 3 months, but lower vagal tone was noted in infants of depressed versus nondepressed mothers at 6 months. The developmental increase in vagal tone that occurred between 3 and 6 months for infants of nondepressed mothers did not occur for infants of depressed mothers. Correlation analyses suggested that higher vagal tone at 6 months was related to more vocalizations and more optimal neurological scores.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , Spring 1995 , pp. 227 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendclson, M., Mach, J. E., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohn, J. F., Campbell, S. B., Matias, R., & Hopkins, J. (1990). Face-to-face interactions of postpartum depressed and nondepressed mother-infant pairs at 2 months. Developmental Psychology, 26, 15–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costello, A. J., Edelbrock, C. S., & Costello, A. J. (1985). Validity of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for children: A comparison between psychiatric and pediatric referrals. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 13, 579–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costello, A. J., Edelbrock, C. S., Dulcan, M. K., & Kalas, R. (1984). Testing of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) in a clinical population (Contract No. DB-81-0027). Final report to the Center for Epidemiological Studies, National Institutes for Mental Health. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Ellison, P. A., Horn, J. L., & Browing, C. A. (1985). Construction of an Infant Neurological International Battery (INFANIB) for the assessment of neurological integrity in infancy. Physical Therapy, 65. 1326–1331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Field, T. M. (1980). Interactions of preterm infants born to lower SES, teenage mothers. In Field, T. M., Goldberg, S., Stern, D., & Sostck, A. (Eds.), Interactions of High-risk Infants and Children. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Field, T. M. (1984). Early interactions between infants and their postpartum depressed mothers. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 527–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T., Healy, B., Goldstein, S., Perry, S., Bendcll, D., Schanberg, S., Zimmerman, E. A., & Kuhn, C. (1988). Infants of depressed mothers show “depressed” behavior even with non-depressed adults. Child Development, 59, 1569–1579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. M., Woodson, R., Greenberg, R., & Cohen, D. (1982). Discrimination and imitation of facial expressions by neonates. Science, 218, 179–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, N. A. (1989). The psychophysiological correlates of emotional reactivity during the first year of life. Developmental Psychology, 25, 364–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, N. A., & Gelles, M. (1984). Face-to-face interaction in term and preterm infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 5, 192–205.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, N. A., & Porges, S. W. (1985). The relation between neonatal heart period patterns and developmental outcome. Child Development, 56, 28–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pickens, J., & Field, T. M. (1993a). Facial expressions and vagal tone in infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers. Early Development and Parenting.Google Scholar
Pickens, J., & Field, T. M. (1993b). Facial expressivity in infants of depressed mothers. Developmental Psychology, 26, 1–3.Google Scholar
Porges, S. W. (1983). Heart rate patterns in neonates: A potential diagnostic window to the brain. In Field, T. M. & Sostck, A. M. (Eds.), Infants Born at Risk: Physiological and Perceptual Responses (pp. 3–22). New York; Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Porges, S. W. (1985). Method and apparatus for evaluating rhythmic oscillations in aperiodic physiological response systems. United States Patent Number: 4,510,944. 04 16, 1985.Google Scholar
Porges, S. W. (1991). Vagal tone: A mediator of affect. In Garber, J. A. & Dodge, K. A. (Eds.), The Development of Affect Regulation and Dysregulation (pp. 111–128). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porges, S. W., McCabe, P. M., & Yongue, B. G. (1982). Respiratory-heart rate interactions: Psychophysiological implications for pathophysiology and behavior. In Cacioppo, J. & Patty, R. (Eds.), Perspectives in Cardiovascular Psychophysiotogy (pp. 223–264). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Stifter, C. A., Fox, N. A., & Porges, S. W. (1989). Facial expressivity and vagal tone in 5- and 10-month-old infants. Infant Behavior and Development, 12, 127–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar