Summary: A new study reveals that when mothers regularly discuss their infants’ thoughts and feelings, it is associated with higher oxytocin levels in their babies. Oxytocin, a hormone crucial for social bonding and emotional development, is influenced by the way mothers reference their child’s internal states during interactions.
Researchers found that emotionally sensitive speech, such as describing a child’s excitement or mirroring their emotions, strengthens this psychobiological connection. Mothers experiencing postnatal depression were observed to engage less in this behavior, highlighting opportunities for targeted support to foster social development in their children.
Key Facts:
- Higher infant oxytocin levels are linked to maternal speech about the child’s thoughts and feelings.
- Oxytocin regulates early social experiences and is shaped by parental interactions.
- Mothers with postnatal depression are less likely to reference their infant’s internal states.
Source: UCL
Infants whose mothers regularly use language to describe what their child is thinking or feeling, have higher levels of the hormone oxytocin, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
Oxytocin, a hormone that is involved in a range of psychological processes, plays an important role in social relationships, such as the development of the bond between a parent and child, and the formation of trust, and social understanding, across the lifespan.
For the research, published in Development and Psychopathology, 62 new mothers aged between 23 and 44 years old, and who had an infant between three and nine months old, were filmed interacting naturally with their baby for five minutes.
The researchers analysed the videos to see how well the mother accurately referred to her infant’s internal experience (e.g., their thoughts, feelings, desires and perceptions) during the interaction.
They also collected saliva samples from the infant and measured the level of the hormone oxytocin.
When the relationship between these two measures was analysed, the researchers found a positive correlation.
Lead author, Dr Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences), said: “It has long been known that the hormone oxytocin is involved in intimate social relationships, including the attachment bond between a mother and her child.
“It is also known that how well a mother is attuned to her infant’s thoughts and feelings in the first year of life is a long-term predictor of the child’s social and emotional development. But the pathways underlying these effects have been unclear.
“We have, for the first time, discovered that the amount that a mother talks to their infant about their infant’s thoughts and feelings is directly correlated with their infant’s oxytocin levels. This suggests that oxytocin is involved in regulating children’s early social experience, and this is itself shaped by the way a parent interacts with their infant.”
For example, when a child demonstrates interest in a toy, a parent who displays understanding of their child’s internal state might say “Oh, you like this toy” or “You’re excited” and might imitate their child’s actions or facial expression. In this way the parent is mirroring the child’s internal experience, and the new results now reveal that this influences the infant’s oxytocin system as well.
The team also found that mothers who were experiencing postnatal depression referred less to their infant’s internal states than mothers who were not experiencing depression.
Dr Lindley Baron-Cohen said: “This study demonstrates a new psychobiological link between mothers and their infant, in which the mother’s emotionally sensitive speech is reflected in her infant’s hormone levels.
“This highlights the key role mothers play in their child’s early development, and indicates how mothers who are experiencing depression could be supported to facilitate their child’s social development.”
Funding: This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIRH) ARC North Thames, the Lord Leonard and Lady Estelle Wolfson Foundation, Wellcome Trust, the University of York, the Fund for Psychoanalytic Research through the American Psychoanalytic Association, the International Psychoanalytical Association, the Michael Samuel Charitable Trust, the Denman Charitable Trust, and the Galvani Foundation.
About this neurodevelopment research news
Author: Poppy Tombs
Source: UCL
Contact: Poppy Tombs – UCL
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Maternal mind-mindedness and infant oxytocin are interrelated and negatively associated with postnatal depression” by Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen et al. Development and Psychopathology
Abstract
Maternal mind-mindedness and infant oxytocin are interrelated and negatively associated with postnatal depression
Previous studies show that maternal mind-mindedness positively impacts children’s social development. In the current studies, we examine the relation between mind-mindedness during parent–child interaction, oxytocin (OT), and postnatal depression in a sample of mothers (N = 62, ages 23–44) and their infant (ages 3–9 months).
In Study 1, infant salivary OT was positively correlated with mothers’ appropriate mind-related comments, and negatively correlated (at trend level) with maternal depression scores.
Mothers experiencing symptoms of depression used fewer appropriate mind-related comments than controls. Study 2 was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, experimental study, in which the same women who participated in Study 1 were administered nasal OT.
This did not significantly influence levels of mind-mindedness. Study 2 warrants a larger trial to investigate the effect of OT on mind-mindedness further. Study 1 is the first to demonstrate an association between maternal mind-mindedness and variation in children’s OT levels.
Since both OT and mind-mindedness have been repeatedly implicated in processes of maternal–infant attachment, this association highlights the centrality of mothers’ caregiving representations in facilitating the parent–child relationship and children’s early development.
