Washington, August 28: Mothers with an “insecure” attachment style react differently to their children and are also likely to pass on the problem, a new study says.
An international team, led by Queensland University, has based its findings on an analysis of 30 first-time mothers who’re asked to look at their baby’s facial expressions while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner.
“For mothers with ‘secure’ attachment, we found that both happy and sad infant faces produced a reward signal in their brain, or a ‘natural high’.
“However, mothers with an ‘insecure’ attachment pattern didn’t show this same brain response. In fact, their own infant’s crying face activated the insula, a brain region associated with feelings of unfairness, pain or disgust.
“Thus a mother’s own experience in childhood may shape how she responds to her baby’s needs, through these changes in the brain. This may help to better understand factors leading to child neglect,” lead researcher Lane Strathearn said.
In fact, in the study, prior to giving birth, the mothers participated in the Adult Attachment Interview, which revealed their perception of childhood relationships with attachment figures, usually parents.
–Agencies