Liu Cindy H, Snidman Nancy, Kagan Jerome, Tronick Ed
Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine and Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2020 Apr;41(3):212-220. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000749.
This study examined the associations between maternal distress (symptoms of depression and anxiety) and observer and maternal ratings of infant temperament in Chinese-American (CA) and European-American (EA) 4-month-old infants (N = 114 dyads).
Maternal distress was obtained through self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Mothers reported infant temperament (distress at limitations, soothability, and fear) through the short form of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. To obtain observer-rated infant reactivity, infants were administered a battery of visual and auditory stimuli in the laboratory, in which infant behaviors (fret/cry, limb activity, and arching of the back) were coded.
Maternal distress accounted more for the maternal perception of her infant among EA mothers than among CA mothers, but the relation was only observed for soothability. Higher maternal distress was associated with maternal report of lower soothability for EA mothers. Observer-rated infant reactivity, but not maternal distress, was positively associated with EA and CA maternal report of distress at limitations. Observer-rated infant negativity was associated with somewhat higher ratings of infant fear for EA mothers, although this association for EA mothers was not significantly different from CA mothers.
Potential biases in maternal report of infant behavior due to effects from maternal distress may not be generalizable across cultures but may vary because of cultural norms for emotional experience and expectations for infant behavior. EA mothers' ratings of infant distress and soothability, but not fear, may be influenced by maternal distress.
本研究调查了华裔美国（CA）和欧美裔美国（EA）4个月大婴儿（N = 114对母婴）的母亲困扰（抑郁和焦虑症状）与观察者及母亲对婴儿气质的评定之间的关联。
通过自我报告的抑郁和焦虑症状获取母亲困扰情况。母亲们通过《婴儿行为问卷修订版》简表报告婴儿气质（受限苦恼、安抚性和恐惧）。为了获得观察者评定的婴儿反应性，在实验室中对婴儿施加一系列视觉和听觉刺激，并对婴儿行为（烦躁/哭泣、肢体活动和背部拱起）进行编码。
与CA母亲相比，EA母亲的母亲困扰对其对婴儿的感知影响更大，但这种关系仅在安抚性方面观察到。对于EA母亲来说，较高的母亲困扰与较低安抚性的母亲报告相关。观察者评定的婴儿反应性而非母亲困扰与EA和CA母亲报告的受限苦恼呈正相关。观察者评定的婴儿消极情绪与EA母亲对婴儿恐惧的评定略高相关，尽管EA母亲的这种关联与CA母亲没有显著差异。
母亲困扰对婴儿行为母亲报告的潜在偏差可能无法在不同文化中普遍适用，而是可能因情绪体验的文化规范和对婴儿行为的期望而有所不同。EA母亲对婴儿苦恼和安抚性的评定，而非恐惧评定，可能受到母亲困扰的影响。
