Babies whose mothers use a lot of language to describe what they are experiencing or feeling have higher levels of oxytocin, according to a new study.
- Infants whose mothers explicitly verbalize what they may be feeling have higher levels of oxytocin.
- This hormone plays an important role in social relationships, attachment and the formation of trust.
- The researchers also noticed that mothers who suffered from postnatal depression made less reference to their infant’s internal states than mothers without the disorder.
Just like kisses, mothers’ words could well have a “magical” effect on little ones. A study by researchers at University College London (UCL) reveals that infants whose mothers verbally describe what they may be thinking or feeling have higher levels of oxytocin than other babies.
Nicknamed the love hormone, this neuropeptide is involved in a series of psychological processes and plays an important role in many social emotional behaviors such as mother-child bonds or trust in others.
The work was presented in detail in the journal Development and Psychopathology.
Baby: more oxytocin when the mother verbalizes her emotions
For this study, 62 new mothers who were between 23 and 44 years old were recruited. Their baby was between 3 and 9 months old. The researchers filmed the interactions between mothers and their infants for 5 minutes. They then observed the videos noting when the mother accurately referenced her child’s internal experience (e.g., thoughts, feelings, desires, and perceptions) during their interactions.
Saliva samples from the babies were also collected.
Analyzes showed that babies whose mothers verbally explained to them what they might be thinking or feeling had higher oxytocin levels.
“It has long been known that the hormone oxytocin is involved in intimate social relationships, including the bond of attachment between a mother and her child. We also know that a mother’s ability to listen to the thoughts and feelings of her child baby during the first year of life is a long-term indicator of the child’s social and emotional development, but the mechanisms underlying these effects are unclear.explains lead author Dr Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen from UCL Psychology & Language Sciences in a press release.
“We found for the first time that the amount of conversation between a mother and her child about her thoughts and feelings is directly linked to the child’s oxytocin levels. This suggests that oxytocin plays a role in regulating of the child’s first social experiences, and that this regulation is itself influenced by the way in which a parent interacts with their child.she concludes
Postpartum depression: a psychobiological link between mother and baby discovered
This British study on mother-child interactions and oxytocin levels highlighted another element: women who suffered from postnatal depression referred less to the internal states of their infant than those who did not suffer from this disorder. For the authors, their results reveal the existence of a “psychobiological link” between mothers and their babies or the parent’s emotionally sensitive speech is reflected in the child’s hormone levels.
“This highlights the key role mothers play in their child’s early development and indicates how mothers who suffer from depression could be supported to facilitate their child’s social development.”underlines Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen
