Mitev Kaloyan, Frewin Kelsey L, Augustinova Maria, Niedenthal Paula M, Rychlowska Magdalena, Vanderwert Ross E
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, England, United Kingdom.
School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, United Kingdom.
Pediatr Res. 2024 Oct 15. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03540-6.
Social and familial consequences of pacifier use remain poorly understood. The present study attempts to shed more light on the characteristics of parents using pacifiers with their infants and to explore how pacifier use affects perceptions of infant emotionality, maternal stress, and parental efficacy.
The study sample consisted of 428 mothers (range: 17-49 years) of infants (0-36 months) who completed a comprehensive questionnaire assessing infant and parent characteristics as well as parenting practices and pacifier use. We compared attitudes toward pacifiers, parenting stress, children's levels of reactivity and self-regulation, and maternal efficacy among Pacifier Users, Never-Users, and families that Tried-Pacifiers.
The reported results reveal benefits of pacifier use for the family relationships, namely reduced parenting stress (p = 0.018), better parent-child dynamics (p < 0.001), and more positive perceptions of child's affectivity (p = 0.006), which are all important aspects of infant development.
Our findings highlight developmental benefits of pacifier use, a practice that is known to have both positive and negative long-term consequences for healthy child development. It is, therefore, important for health professionals to have discussions about the pros and cons of pacifier use with parents.
The study provides novel insights into how and why mothers use pacifiers and into the psychological consequences of this practice. We found pacifier use is associated with less maternal stress, better mother-child dynamics, and more positive perceptions of child's affectivity. Our findings document developmental benefits of pacifier use adding a new perspective to the debate on pacifiers. Doctors, health visitors, pediatric nurses, and midwives may consider this evidence when advising parents on pacifier use.
使用安抚奶嘴对社会和家庭的影响仍知之甚少。本研究旨在进一步阐明使用安抚奶嘴的婴儿父母的特征，并探讨使用安抚奶嘴如何影响对婴儿情绪、母亲压力和父母效能的认知。
研究样本包括428名年龄在17至49岁之间的婴儿（0至36个月）的母亲，她们完成了一份综合问卷，评估婴儿和父母的特征、育儿方式及安抚奶嘴的使用情况。我们比较了安抚奶嘴使用者、从未使用者以及尝试过使用安抚奶嘴的家庭对安抚奶嘴的态度、育儿压力、孩子的反应性和自我调节水平以及母亲的效能。
报告结果显示使用安抚奶嘴对家庭关系有益，即减轻育儿压力（p = 0.018）、改善亲子互动（p < 0.001）以及对孩子情感有更积极的认知（p = 0.006），这些都是婴儿发育的重要方面。
我们的研究结果凸显了使用安抚奶嘴对发育的益处，而这一做法已知对儿童健康发育既有积极的长期影响也有消极的长期影响。因此，健康专业人员与父母讨论使用安抚奶嘴的利弊非常重要。
该研究为母亲如何以及为何使用安抚奶嘴以及这种做法的心理后果提供了新的见解。我们发现使用安抚奶嘴与减轻母亲压力、改善母婴互动以及对孩子情感有更积极的认知有关。我们的研究结果记录了使用安抚奶嘴对发育的益处，为关于安抚奶嘴的争论增添了新的视角。医生、健康访视员、儿科护士和助产士在就安抚奶嘴的使用向父母提供建议时可考虑这一证据。
