Biomedical subjects
J Abadi
Publications and source records attributed to J Abadi.
Relationship between neonatal behavior and subsequent temperament.
The validity of the neonatal behavioral assessment scale in predicting later infant temperament is of theoretical and clinical importance. The scale was administered to 47 full-term healthy neonates. Of these, 40 were followed and the infant characteristics questionnaire was given at four months of age. Significant correlations were revealed between the neonatal assessment items from the clusters of orientation and motor maturity and the temperament factors "fussy-difficult" and "unpredictable". Items from the cluster of autonomic stability correlated with the temperament factor "unadaptable." These correlations possibly indicate that perceived temperament does reflect intrinsic infant qualities.
Neonatal behavior of Panamanian and Israeli infants: a cross-cultural study.
The behavior of third-generation Israeli neonates belonging to two ethnic groups--Ashkenazic infants (n = 20) and Sephardic infants (n = 20)--and the behavior of a group of full-term Panamanian infants (n = 30) were compared in order to examine cross-cultural and interethnic predispositions. The Israeli and Panamanian infants differed on 5 of a total of 27 neonatal behavioral assessment items: the difference in 3 of these items, representing the autonomic stability and motor clusters, exceeded 1 scale score. A comparison of the two Israeli ethnic subgroups with the Panamanian group (Duncan's multiple-range test) revealed significant differences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic infants on 2 auditory habituation items, whereas the Panamanian infants differed significantly from both Israeli subgroups on 10 of the items, representing the motor, range of state, and autonomic stability clusters. These results corroborate previous observations concerning cross-cultural neonatal behavioral differences and the possible role of environmental factors in the ongoing modeling process of human behavioral traits and personality.
Comparison of early neonatal behavior in two Israeli ethnic groups.
A review of the literature on differences between Israeli children born to parents of North African and of European descent revealed only a few studies concerning child development. Two trends emerged: a) these developmental differences seemed to resolve gradually over time; and b) there appeared to be an early general developmental precocity in the infants of North African descent, while in later childhood, European children generally performed better in all developmental areas. The present study compared the early behavior of 40 second-generation Israeli neonates from these two ethnic groups. The results indicated a few statistically significant behavioral differences between the groups, all in favor of the North African group. The auditory habituation item was dependent on maternal education, a result which may be attributed to genetic and/or intrauterine environmental factors fostering the development of a protective mechanism in a potentially over-stimulatory future environment. The small-scale differences between the neonates of the two ethnic groups may represent the already documented tendency and gradual resolution of interethnic variations and the early North African precocity during infancy.