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Biomedical subjects

R del Carmen

Publications and source records attributed to R del Carmen.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Infant temperament and cardiac vagal tone: assessments at twelve weeks of age.

Sixty 12-week-old infants participated in a laboratory study to explore the relations between temperament and cardiac vagal tone. Temperament was evaluated via laboratory observations and maternal ratings. Cardiac vagal tone, measured as the amplitude of respiratory sinus arrhythmia, was quantified from beat-to-beat heart period data collected during a resting baseline period and during the laboratory assessment of temperament. Specific hypotheses were investigated relating temperament to both basal cardiac vagal tone and changes in cardiac vagal tone during social/attention challenges. Infants with higher baseline cardiac vagal tone were rated in the laboratory as showing fewer negative behaviors and were less disrupted by the experimental procedure. Infants who decreased cardiac vagal tone during the laboratory assessment were rated on maternal report temperament scales as having longer attention spans, and being more easily soothed.

Arousal↗
PubMed1996

Epilogue: bridging the gap between research on attachment and psychopathology.

Clinicians and researchers are beginning to acknowledge the importance of integrating a developmental perspective into the understanding of clinical disorders. The application of findings from basic attachment research to this understanding of psychopathology is a prototype for interdisciplinary research. However, major gaps continue to exist between basic research on attachment processes and clinical issues of assessment, classification, and treatment of mental disorders from infancy through adolescence. This epilogue highlights the importance of more integrative research. As a reflection of growth in this direction, National Institute of Mental Health funding patterns are reviewed, and promising areas for future research are suggested. The field is well positioned for conceptual advancement if more integrative approaches are used.

Humans↗
PubMed1996

Prenatal maternal reactivity to infant cries predicts postnatal perceptions of infant temperament and marriage appraisal.

In a sample of 60 primiparous women, cardiac response and ratings of subjective aversiveness to recordings of unfamiliar infant cries were studied at 32 weeks' gestation. Regression analyses were used to examine relations between cardiac acceleration and subjective aversiveness and 3 groups of postnatal dependent variables: perception of infant temperament, the mother's emotional state, and her appraisal of her marriage. Mothers who prenatally rated the cry recordings as more aversive postnatally described their 3-month-old infants as more fussy/difficult and unpredictable. With statistical control for prenatal variation on the emotional state and marital outcome measures, cardiac acceleration predicted later marital quality. Women who showed greater cardiac acceleration to the cries described their postnatal marital relationships more negatively.

Adult↗