Autonomic and brain electrical activity in securely- and insecurely-attached infants of depressed mothers

Geraldine Dawson; Sharon B. Ashman; David R Hessl; Susan Spieker; Karin Frey; Heracles Panagiotides; Lara Embry

doi:10.1016/S0163-6383(01)00075-3

Autonomic and brain electrical activity in securely- and insecurely-attached infants of depressed mothers

Geraldine Dawson, Sharon B. Ashman, David R Hessl, Susan Spieker, Karin Frey, Heracles Panagiotides, Lara Embry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study examined the combined influences of maternal depression and attachment security on infants' brain activity and autonomic activity. Brain electrical activity, heart rate, and vagal tone were recorded from 159 13-15 month old infants of depressed, subthreshold depressed, and nondepressed mothers during a baseline and two social interaction conditions. Attachment behavior was observed during the traditional Strange Situation. It was found that infants of depressed mothers exhibited reduced left relative to right frontal brain activity during all conditions. Moreover, regardless of mother's depression status, insecurely attached infants exhibited relative reduced left frontal brain activity. Infants of depressed mothers were also found to exhibit higher heart rates across all conditions. These results indicate that both maternal depression and attachment security are associated with alterations in infants' psychophysiological responses.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	135-149
Number of pages	15
Journal	Infant Behavior and Development
Volume	24
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(01)00075-3
State	Published - Feb 2001
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Attachment
Brain activity
Heart rate
Maternal depression

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Developmental and Educational Psychology

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10.1016/S0163-6383(01)00075-3

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Autonomic and brain electrical activity in securely- and insecurely-attached infants of depressed mothers. / Dawson, Geraldine; Ashman, Sharon B.; Hessl, David R; Spieker, Susan; Frey, Karin; Panagiotides, Heracles; Embry, Lara.

In: Infant Behavior and Development, Vol. 24, No. 2, 02.2001, p. 135-149.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Autonomic and brain electrical activity in securely- and insecurely-attached infants of depressed mothers

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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