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Do obstetric factors affect the mother's perception of her new‐born's behaviour?
Author(s) -
JamesRoberts Ian St.,
Wolke Dieter
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-835x.1989.tb00795.x
Subject(s) - psychology , affect (linguistics) , perception , developmental psychology , cognition , social perception , communication , neuroscience
Recent theory suggests that the development of infants who experience obstetric adversities is mediated by their social interactions with their caregivers. This study examines the implied question of whether mothers' perceptions of their new‐borns' behaviour reflect differences of obstetric optimality. Professionals' measures showed full‐term new‐borns with poor obstetric histories to be less alert and more fretful than comparisons, with standardized researcher measures showing the clearest differences. Mothers' diaries, ratings and impressions measures did not show such differences, probably due to a combination of new‐born behavioural instability, contextual effects and effects of maternal perceptual and cognitive processes. The findings indicate the need for alternative methodologies for measuring constitutional and social‐developmental contributions to infant behaviour. In addition, they emphasize that little is known about the bases for parents' views of their infants' characteristics, or the role of such views in maladaptive developmental relationships.