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A Study of the Effects of Extended Mother‐Infant Contact on Maternal Behavior at One and Three Months
Author(s) -
Kontos Donna
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
birth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.233
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1523-536X
pISSN - 0730-7659
DOI - 10.1111/j.1523-536x.1978.tb01265.x
Subject(s) - developmental psychology , psychology , affect (linguistics) , communication
This study is concerned with the effects of early separation of human mothers and their full term infants on later maternal attachment behaviour. Four groups of twelve mother‐infant dyads experienced differing amounts of separation from their newborns. Data from two observation periods, at one month and three months postpartum, revealed that separating mother and infant in the early postpartum period does affect maternal attachment behaviour for at least three months. Mothers who received extended contact displayed more attachment behaviour towards their infants than did mothers who were separated and mothers who roomed‐in displayed more attachment behaviour than mothers who did not. This study lends further evidence for a sensitive period within the first two hours after birth in the human mother.