BC Council for Families

by David Sheftel
Program Coordinator, BC Council for Families

A new study by psychologists at the University of Toronto may reveal the biological basis for attachment. The study, Infant Anticipatory Stress, builds on previous research about how babies are affected by neglect from their caregiver and offers researchers new insight into the mechanisms that allow babies to anticipate, remember, and adapt to unusual emotional events.

In the study, researchers replicated the Still Face experiment (watch a video clip) in which mothers sit opposite their child and interact by talking, making faces, and showing affection. Babies typically respond to this attention by returning facial expressions, vocalizing, and reaching out. The mothers then stop reacting, showing no emotion or affection, and the babies quickly become distressed. The distress escalated until the mother returned to her responsive behaviour.

Levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the babies’ saliva were measured during the positive interaction and again following the non-interactive session. An increase in cortisol level was observed when the babies did not receive the positive interaction from their mothers. Then, 24 hours later the mothers and babies returned to the same room and again interacted positively. Cortisol levels also increased in this session, indicating that the babies remembered the events of the previous day and anticipated distress simply by being in the same environment. The finding has led the study's authors to speculate that babies can produce an anticipatory stress response based on their expectations about how their parents will treat them in a specific context.

Speaking with CTV news, Clyde Hertzman, director of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at the University of British Columbia said, “It helps us to understand why social and emotional deprivation in the first year of life can have profound long-term impacts on child development and mental health.”

Want to learn more about how to promote parents' caring interactions with their young children? Check out the BC Council for Families' Home Visitors training -- new sessions will be announced this fall.