Infant Holding Preferences in Maternity Hospitals: Testing the Hypothesis of the Lateralized Perception of Emotions

Abstract

Infant holding biases of 202 mothers were studied in four French maternity hospitals. The study collected laterality for holding in mother/child dyads as a means of testing the emotional hypothesis (Manning & Chamberlain, 1991). Maternal holding side preferences and handedness were collected through questionnaires. In addition, hemispheric specialization for perceiving visual and auditory emotional cues was examined using a chimeric figure and dichotic listening task. The mothers displayed a significant left holding bias as well as a general perceptual bias in favor of the left side/right hemisphere. However, no significant associations were found between holding biases and emotional perceptual asymmetry. The absence of significant relationships between hemispheric specialization and holding biases does not support directly the emotional hypothesis for infant holding but can be interpreted according to the nature of the holding relationship.

Is infant holding‐side bias related to motor asymmetries in mother and child?

“…Another limitation is that the above-mentioned studies were conducted with nonparents (university students). Thus, Donnot and Vauclair (2007) and Vauclair and Scola (2009) did not observe any significant relationship between perception of either visual or auditory emotions and holding-side preferences in populations of mothers, in marked contrast to the results obtained with student populations (Bourne & Todd, 2004;Vauclair & Donnot, 2005;Harris, Almerigi, Carbari, & Fogel, 2001;Huggenberger et al, 2009).…”

“…Recent studies (Donnot & Vauclair 2007;Vauclair & Scola, 2009) of mothers after delivery have failed to find any relation between emotion perception and holding bias, in contrast to studies of student populations (e.g., Vauclair & Donnot, 2005;Huggenberger et al, 2009). Different hypotheses have been put forward to explain these differences, such as the effect of hormonal factors or the nature of the child/adult relationship.…”

Lateralization of infant holding by mothers: A longitudinal evaluation of variations over the first 12 weeks

“…The evidence linking left holding to lateral asymmetries in auditory processing is at present somewhat tenuous; no clear association between left ear advantage in auditory processing and maternal left-holding has been found (Donnot & Vauclair, 2007). Indeed, infant sounds are generally available bilaterally, and distinctive links between left-holding and auditory processing cannot be predicted with great confidence.…”

“…If this model were applied to the data from this study, the group of mothers who showed an inconsistent lateral bias would be presumed to have higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry. This kind of variability may go some way towards explaining inconsistencies and discrepancies within the literature regarding associations between infant/doll holding side and measures of hemispheric specialisation (Bourne & Todd, 2004;Donnot & Vauclair, 2007;Harris et al, 2010;Huggenberger et al, 2009;Lucas et al, 1996). It could therefore be informative to compare hemispheric laterality data from participants, especially mothers, who show a consistent lateral cradling preference with those who do not.…”

“…However, when mothers held infants, no correlation between visual field advantage and holding side was found (Donnot & Vauclair, 2007;Vauclair & Scola, 2009;Scola & Vauclair, 2010b). To pursue this theory further, it must be established whether infants who are held on the left side are also in positions where their face is visible to the holder.…”