“Mommy, Where are You?”: Sleep Interventions and Security of Infant-Mother Attachment presented...
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Sleep Interventions and Security of Infant-Mother Attachment presented by Megan Blair Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, The University of California, Irvine May 13, 2006
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Transcript of “Mommy, Where are You?”: Sleep Interventions and Security of Infant-Mother Attachment presented...
“Mommy, Where are You?”:Sleep Interventions and Security of Infant-Mother Attachment
presented by
Megan BlairDepartment of Psychology and Social
Behavior,The University of California, Irvine
May 13, 2006
Bedtime for Baby . . .
Advice from professionals . . . Sleep Intervention Methods
Help a young child learn to sleep through the night on his or her own
Range from responsive to very non-responsive Can be as extreme as leaving child to cry for
long periods of time(Owens, France & Wiggs, 1999)
More advice from professionals . . .
How to promote a secure attachment provide sensitive, consistent,
appropriate responses to your child’s needs
(Bowlby, 1982; Ainsworth, 1982)
One might wonder . . .
Daytime: consistent, responsive care
Secure Attachment
Nighttime sleep intervention: not responsive to child’s signals
Child sleeps through the
night
?
Secure Infant Attachment . . .
Benefits of a Secure Attachment Infant will explore a new environment,
confident that the parent will protect him/her if needed.
Securely attached children grow up to be more enthusiastic, goal-oriented, and better able to solve problems, compared to children who were insecurely attached (Carlson et al., 2003).
Insecure Infant Attachment . . .
Insecure-Avoidant When distressed, child does not expect
comfort from mother because she typically does not provide it
Child learns to inhibit feelings - especially anger
Child expects mother to be emotionally unavailable when he/she needs care or protection (based on history of maternal caregiving)
(Ainsworth et al., 1978; Main, 2000)
Insecure Infant Attachment . . .
Insecure-Resistant Child cries a lot if separated from mother and
cannot be soothed easily by mother when she returns
When distressed, child both seeks and resists contact with mother because he/she does not believe in mother’s ability to soothe him/her
Child expects inconsistent, unpredictable care (based on the history of caregiving provided by the mother)
(Ainsworth et al., 1978; Main, 2000)
The Missing Link!
Is security of infant attachment to the mother associated with the use of sleep intervention methods?
?Security of
Infant- MotherAttachment
SleepIntervention
Methods
The Hypothesis . . .
Infants who were subjected to sleep interventions that involve non-response or insensitive responses to their signals (e.g., crying) will be less likely to have secure attachments than infants who did not experience these methods.
The Setting and Sample . . . Setting: UCI Medical Center; lab playroom and offices in Dr.
Curt Sandman’s suite Participants:
Recruited from larger study of child sleep location, family well-being, and attachment (Keller, Study of Child Sleep and Maternal and Child Well-Being)
Families were also participants in a large longitudinal study of prenatal stress and development (Sandman & Davis, UCI Women and Children’s Health and Well-Being Project)
The Toddlers . . .
31 toddlers (17-19 months of age) and their mothers
17 boys (52%) and 14 girls (48%)
The Mothers . . . 22 - 40 years of age (M = 31.6) 94% married; 100% living with child’s
father Employment Status
38% employed full-time 27% part-time work/school 35% not employed
Primarily middle-class families (income ranged from less than $40,000 to more than $180,000; median range = $60,000 - $80,000)
Mothers’ Educational Attainment . . .
4-Year college degree or higher
(61%)
Some college education
(26%)
High school diploma (10%)
No high school diploma (3%)
Mothers’ Ethnic Background . . .
Caucasian (48%)
Other (13%)
Hispanic (39%)
Methods . . .
Attachment Measure The Strange Situation
Procedure (Ainsworth et al., 1978)
24 minute lab procedure Consists of time with
mother and stranger, and time alone, in playroom
Child’s actions during separations and reunions videotaped and later coded to determine if infant is securely or insecurely attached to mother
Methods . . .
Sleep Intervention Measures Maternal survey
Did you ever use a “formal sleep training method” to help your child learn to sleep through the night? (yes/no)
How often did you respond to your child’s signals by picking him/her up? (coded 1-5 where 1=never and 5=always) How often did you remain outside of your child’s room when he/she was crying? (coded 1-5 where 1=never and 5=always)
Results . . .
Attachment status 71% Secure 29% Insecure
(44% Avoidant) (56% Resistant)
0
5
10
15
20
25
Secure Insecure
AvoidantResistantSecure
Frequency of Attachment Types
Descriptive Results . . .
55% of children had learned to sleep through the night by 6 months; 100% by 16 months 90% currently sleeping through the night
Some children began reawakening after previously learning to sleep through the night
63% of mothers believe that parents have an important role in teaching their children to learn to sleep through the night; however, only 26% of mothers reported using a formal sleep intervention method
Results . . .
90% of mothers reported some crying when their young child learned to sleep through the night.
To get child to sleep, mothers tried . . . Nursing child Giving child a bottle/pacifier/toy Bringing child into parents’ bed Picking child up to comfort him/her Letting child cry
Test of main hypothesis . . .
Reported use of formal sleep intervention methods not significantly associated with security of infant attachment to mother
(2 (1) = .38, ns.)
Follow-Up Research Question . . .
Although they may not have reported using a formal sleep intervention method, some mothers have tried letting their child “cry it out” during the night.
I examined whether reported non-responsive behaviors at night (not picking up distressed child; remaining outside child’s room) are associated with infant attachment:
Hypothesis: Mothers of insecurely attached infants will provide less responsive care at night than mothers of securely attached infants
Results . . .
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Secure Insecure
Mothers of securely attached infants were significantly more likely to provide responsive care when their children woke at night
Frequency of Picking Child Up During the Night
(t (28) = 2.386, p < .05)
Results . . .
Mothers of Insecure-Avoidant babies were significantly more likely to be non-responsive when their children cried at bedtime
00.5
11.5
22.5
33.5
44.5
5
Secure Insecure-Avoidant
Frequency of Remaining Outside of Crying Child’s Room at Bedtime
(t (24) = 2.217, p < .05)
Conclusions and Implications . . .
Use of a formal sleep intervention method was not significantly associated with security of attachment
Non-responsiveness to child’s signals at bedtime was related to greater likelihood of insecure attachments (especially insecure-avoidant) to mother
Responsive care at night may be an important factor in promoting a secure infant attachment to mother
Future Research . . .
Larger sample Add nighttime component to studies of
associations between parental behavior and security of attachment
Longitudinal Design Study infants over a long period of time as
they go through sleep intervention methods to see what effect these have on security of attachment
A big “thank you!” to . . .
Professor Wendy Goldberg Professor Valerie Jenness Ph.D. Candidate Meret Keller UROP and SURP Research Assistants
Jenna Kieckhaefer Rebecca Grover Stephanie Sullivan
Participating families
Thanks!
