Infant carrying as a tool to promote secure attachments in young mothers: Comparing intervention and control infants during the still-face paradigm

• Published in: Infant behavior & development 2020-02, Vol.58, p.101413, Article 101413
• Main Authors: Williams, Lela Rankin, Turner, Patricia R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent mothers; Attachment in infancy; Babywearing; High-risk; Longitudinal; Mother-infant attachment; Newborns; Physical contact; Randomized control trial
• ISSN: 0163-6383; 1879-0453
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.101413

•Few studies have experimentally assessed the benefits of Infant Carrying or “Babywearing”.•Infant carrying, compared to a control condition, is associated with secure attachment among adolescent mothers.•Total number of Babywearing hours is associated with attachment security, regardless of assigned condition.•The Global Rating Scale can be used to measure attachment in infants as young as 7 months old.•Infant carriers can be used in high-risk samples to support mother-infant attachment. Infants of adolescent mothers have a greater risk of developing insecure attachment types and attachment disorders into adulthood. Previous research suggests that skin-to-skin contact predicts secure attachment; however, it is largely unknown whether infant carrying or “babywearing” has similar benefits. We hypothesized that adolescent mothers (Mage=19.1 years, SD = 2.0; 40.6 % Hispanic; 40 %< = 11th grade) who were randomly assigned to an infant carrying condition at 2–4 weeks’ post-partum (n = 16; 1 h daily for 3 months), compared to a control group (n = 17; reading), would be more likely to have securely attached infants at 7 months (M = 29.0 weeks, SD = 3.4). We coded infant gaze orientation, fretfulness, affect, self-soothing behaviors, and vocalizations in the reunion phase of the Still-Face Paradigm, and used an algorithm derived from the infant Global Rating Scales to determine attachment type. Infants in the intervention condition were more likely to have secure attachments and less likely to have disorganized attachments compared to the control condition. Hours spent babywearing was positively correlated with secure attachment, rpb = .40, and negatively correlated with disorganized attachment, rpb =−0.36. There were no statistically significant differences between the conditions or babywearing hours for avoidant or resistant attachment types. The results suggest that infant carrying may be an effective tool at promoting secure attachments, particularly for mothers and infants at greater risk for attachment insecurity.