Psychobiological Aspects of Infant Crying

Abstract

This study addresses the relationship between the amount of infant crying and maternal responsiveness to the infant's facial communicative cues during distress and non-distress situations. From an evolutionary perspective, the interpretation of infant crying as a communicative signal is preferred over its distanceregulating function. This view implies a relation between the amount of infant crying and parameters describing interactional regulation. Maternal responsiveness is operationalized by (a) the contingent reactions in a latency time span which define the intuitive character of parental behaviours (200-800ms) and by (b) an event-based coding system of maternal inappropriate behaviour. Infant states (crying, fussing, sleeping and waking hours) were assessed by means of diaries kept by the mothers. In two samples (N=lO, N=13, respectively), married, middle-class mothers were videotaped in free play situations with their healthy, firstborn children in their family homes. Results show that there is a strong intersituational consistency of maternal behaviour, but context-sensitive components of maternal behaviour could also be 1 found. The contingency of maternal reactions during the free play situation can be regarded as a predictor of the duration of the infant's crying measured by a maternal diary. The whole pattern of the results confirms the regulatory function of infant crying in the context of early caregiver-child interactions.

Relationships between infant crying, birth complications, and maternal variables

“…In fact, we could demonstrate the relationship between non-responsiveness and infant crying also for the same age segment, i.e. the 3-months-period (Keller et al 1996). In line with results revealing relationships between amount of crying and later attachment security (Belsky & Isabella 1988;Bradshaw, Goldsmith & Campos 1987;Del Carmen et al 1993;Kiser et al 1986), crying is also evaluated as expressing infants' competence in signalling and maintaining early contact with the caregiver.…”

“…Furthermore, there seem to be different results whether caretaking practices in non-crying situations are related to crying (cf. Barr 1990b;Keller et al 1996) as compared with results relating maternal responsiveness in cry situations to crying behaviour (cf. Bell & Ainsworth 1972;van Hubbard & IJzendoorn 1991).…”

“…We then relate interactional quality in non-distress situations to immediate cry parameters at three months (cf. Keller et al 1996) and subsequent cry parameters at 12 months (cf. Bell & Ainsworth 1972;van Hubbard & IJzendoorn 1991).…”

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Fussing and Crying Durations and Prevalence of Colic in Infants

“…However, some authors were not able to provide missing data (e.g., means, SD etc.) 8,14,15,22,[45][46][47][48][49] or could not be reached; [50][51][52][53][54] and some studies did not meet the inclusion criteria (e.g. selected population, no fuss/cry duration data etc.)…”

Neonatal Crying Behaviors

“…A 'mistuning' within this biologically preprogrammed system may produce a cumulative feedback effect ultimately leading to behavioral changes on the part of the infant (e.g., extensive or excessive crying, the avoidance of eye contact, or the deliberate turning away of the head) and negative emotion on the part of the mother (e.g., feelings of guilt, failure, and frustration) (Keller et al, 1996). Characteristics of both infant and mother help shape and ultimately determine their interactions with one another.…”