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Poster #20 - Maternal and Infant Oxytocin Interact with Infant Temperament

Thu, March 21, 4:00 to 5:15pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Infant temperament, the characteristic tendencies of interaction with the world, sets the course for individual development. Oxytocin is one of the most extensively studied neurohormones involved in temperament and individual development (Jones & Sloan, 2018). Further, while the role of maternal oxytocin in caregiving behavior and infant development has been more widely explored, less is known about how early infant oxytocin levels interact with development and temperament. Social fear, described as startle or distress to sudden changes in stimulation, novel physical objects or social stimuli and inhibited approach to novelty (Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003), is an important aspect of early temperament. Readiness to approach novel objects is thought to reflect an infant’s general sense of safety in the world and security in attachment. A related construct, shyness, has been shown to be an important factor in individual differences across early childhood (Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988). Previous studies have shown that higher maternal oxytocin levels are associated with greater quality of care and that higher quality of care is associated with more secure attachment and tendency to approach in novel situations. Preliminary analysis of our data seems to connect these two trends. Here, twenty-three infant-mother dyads were followed from the newborn period through three months of age. Mothers completed the Edenborough Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at the newborn visit and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire at the three-month visit. Urine was collected from the infant at the newborn visit and from both mother and infant at the three-month visit and was later analyzed for oxytocin. We found that mothers with higher levels of urinary oxytocin reported lower social fear in their 3-month-old infants, r = -.543, p = .016. Surprisingly in contrast, higher 3-month infant urinary oxytocin levels were associated with greater levels of infant fear, r =.696, p = .001. Infants were then split into high and low oxytocin level categories based on values higher or lower than the mean. One-way ANOVAs found that infants with low oxytocin levels had mothers who were significantly less anxious (F = 4.57, p = .044) and depressed (F = 5.26, p = .032) based on a self-report questionnaire than infants with high oxytocin levels. Thus, elevated maternal anxiety and depression are associated with elevated infant OT levels and elevated infant OT is associated with greater levels of social fear. However, interestingly, there was no correlation between maternal anxiety or depression and infant fear. This complex relationship will be explored further.

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