Infant crying : mothers' perceptions and affective reactions : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University

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Infant C rying: Hothers ' Perce ptions and Affec tive Reactions .

A thesis presented in par tial fulf ilment of the requirements for the degree

Michael Charles Brennan

1 985

of Doctor of Philosophy

in Education at

Massey Univers i ty

ii

ABSTRACT

Two stud i e s were con d u cted i n ord e r t o e x am i n e three maj or i s sues ar i s i ng f r om re cent stud i e s of mothe r s ' r e att i on s t o the i r cr ying i n f an t s . The s e i s sue s , whi ch ar i se i n con n e ct i on with the Av e r s i v e S t i mu lu s Mod e l of cr y i ng , r e late t o ( a ) t h e r e lat i on sh i p s between cr y char acte r i s t i cs and mothe r s ' affe ct i ve r e act i on s t o cr y ing , ( b ) the v ar i ab i l i t y of cr y ch aract e r i sti cs of i nd i v i d u al i n fant s , and ( c ) the i n f lu e n ce of context on m othe r s ' r e act i on s to the i r in fan t s ' cr y i ng .

Res t i n g on the premi se that the seman t i c d i f fe ren t i al i s an

app ropr i ate techni que f or addr e s s i n g these i s sues , Stud y A e x am i n ed t he r e l ati on sh i p s b e tween three sets o f seman t i c d i fferenti al s c ale s .

The s e were t h e sc ales repor ted by Brenn an and Ki r k l and (1983) , wh i c h r ep r e sent t h r e e d imen s i on s l abelled Affec t , Po t e n c y , and Ev aluat i on ; t h e s cale s reported b y Ze s k i nd and Le ster ( 1978 ) ; and the s cales r ep or ted b y Meh r ab i an and Russell ( 1974a) , wh i ch repr e se n t three d im e n s i on s of emot i on labe lled Pleas antne s s /Un p le as antnes s , Degree of A r ou s al , and Domi n ance /Subm i s s i vene s s .

A comb i ned f actor analy s i s of cr y r at i ng s on these s cale s

u n c overed the factor st r u cture of the Bre n n an and Ki r k land s cales and

of the Meh r ab i an and Ru s s e ll s cales . The fact o r repr e s e n t i n g t he Brennan and Ki rkland Affe ct s cale s also r e p r e sented b oth the

Ze s k i nd and Le ster s cale s and the Meh r ab i an and Ru sse l l

P le asantness /Unpleasant n e s s s cale s . The Bre n n an and Ki r k land s cale s w e r e found t o e ffect i ve ly d i s cr im i n ate between p e r ceptually d i ffe rent

cry s ound s . The Meh r a·b i an and Ru ssell s cale s , h owever, were found t o b e l ac k i ng i n face v ali d i t y and there fore unsu i t ab l� for u se with cr y

s ou nd s .

iii

St ud y 8 e x am i ned the percept i on s and af fect i v e react i ons of m othe r s li s te n i ng to the i r own i n fants ' cr i e s , in two s i t u at i on s - in t he h ome as the cr y i ng occu r red , and i n an expe r i mental s i t u at i on i nv olv i ng t ape-r e corded cr y s ample s . The r e s u lt s i n d i cate t h at :

( a) m othe r s af fe ct i ve r e act i on s t o cr i e s d i d n ot s imply d epend upon t he ave r s i veness of the cry s ound s , ( b ) mothe r s ' af fe ct ive r e act i on s t o cr i e s were st r ongly ass oci ated w i t h the ir at t r i bu t i ons r e g ard i n g the cau s e s and con seque n ces of the cr i e s , ( c) cr i e s f r om the s ame i n fan t and cr i e s f r om d i f ferent i n fan t s v ar ied con s i d e r ab l y with r e s p e ct t o t he i r per ce iv e d characte r i st i cs and the t ypes of affect iv e r e act i on s t h e y evoked , and ( d ) r at i ng s o f t h e t ap e -r e cord ed cry s ampl e s t e n d e d to over -emphas i se the r e l at i onships betwe e n cr y char acte r i st i cs and

m ot he r s ' affe ct i v e r e act i on s , and t o u n de r -r e p r e s e nt the e x tent t o w h i ch negat i ve affe ct i ve r e act i on s wer e exper i e n ce d by t h e mothers i n t he h ome s i t u at i on .

Several sugge st i on s we re made for future stud ies . The s e i n cluded t h e ad opt i on of an i n d i v i d u ali sed app r oach to study: ( a ) the cr y

r ep e r t oi res of i nd i v i d u al i n fant s , ( b ) the typ e s and p at te r n s of affe ct i ve r e act i on s e x pe r i e n ced by i n d i vi d u al mot hers , ( c ) m othe r s ' att r i bu t i on s r e g ard i ng t o t h e i r own feelings and t he i r i n fan t s ' b e h av i or s , and ( d ) the r e lat i onships between m othe r s pe r cept i on s , att r i b ut i on s , affe ct i ve r e act i on s , and actual car e g iv i ng behav i or s .

ACKN OWLED GE MEN TS

First , I would like to express my thanks to Profes s o r Ray Adams for h i s cont inued support in many ways dur ing my t ime with the department .

iv

My sincere thanks and appreciat ion are a lso extended to the fo llowing peop le whose support made this proj ect pos si ble :

To D r . John Kirk land , for the opportunit ies t o engage i n a wide range of int eres t ing and rewarding res earch and teaching a ct ivit ies , and for his encouragement , guidance and supervis ion .

To the parents who participated in the present s tudies , par t icularly the mo thers in S tudy B, for their dedicat ion and enthus iasm throughout the very demanding tas ks.

To the Palmer sto n Nor t h Ho sp i t al Bo ard , Dr . R. England, an d Mr s A. Blanchard , for allo wing me to contact mothers in the ma terni ty annex .

To Charge Nurse Sue Bram ley and Staff Nurse Pam Mackley , for their cooperat ion and va lued as s i s tance wi th the hospital fieldwork.

To David B imler , who was respons i ble for the inv aluable CL US TER program.

To Dr . Peter Kay , who developed and built the audi o clock , wi thout whi ch the home record ings wou ld have been meaningless .

To the consultants , key operators and computer operators at the Comput er Centre , for their va lued as sis tance .

To Pro fessor B. Springe t t , Department of Bo tany and Zoo logy ! Mr Terry Povey , C e ntre for Extramu Fa l S tudies , and Mr Tony True , Department o f Psycho logy , for genero �s ly a llowing me the use of recording equipment and f a c i li t ies , and to Tony True and Mike Hughes , for put t ing their technical exper t ise at my d isposal.

To my chief supervisor , Dr . John Kirk land , and my supervisors Drs .

Alison S t . George and James Chapman , for their unf lagging encour agement . To Fay Deane. f riend and co lleague .

And las t , but no t leas t , to Joan , my partner , to whom I owe my sanity .

I

Abs tract

Acknowledgements List of Tables List of Figures

I NTRODUCTION AND REVIEW Objectives

STUDY A

Introduction Obj ectives Method

Subjects Cry Signals Apparatus

CONTENTS

Semantic Differential Scales Procedure

Data Analysis Results

Factor Analysis BK 1 5 Scales ZL 8 Scales

BK 1 5 and ZL8 combined MR 1 8' Scales

All scales

page i i

iv

X xii

22

23 32

32 32 33 33 35 36

37

38

39

39

4 1

page

Cluster Analysis

BK 1 5 cry clusters 43

BK 1 5 scale clus ters 45

Comparison of two set s of BK 1 5 cry cluste rs 47

ZL8 cry clus ters 48

MR 1 8 cry clusters 50

Discussion 5 3

STUDY B

Introd uction Objectives Method

Subjects Apparatus

Tape-recorders

Audio-clock Diary Form Cry Signals

Familiarisation Cries Tes t Cries

Semant i c Differential Scales Sheet

^A

Sheet B

Sheet

C

Pro cedure

Familiarisation Phase Home Phase

Experimental Phase

5 8 6 3

64 6 4 64 6 5 6 5

6 6 6 6

68 69 69

10

7 1

73

page R e sults

HOME PHASE

Relat ionships between scales 73

Dichotomous rating categories 7 5

Cro s s-tabulations of Set A and Set

B

r esponses 77

ADC cry categories 7 9

ADC patte rns for individual mothers 82

Scale Set responses for individual mothers 84 DC r esponse pat terns of individual mothers 85

D C responses to individual cries 9 1

Causes o f crying 94

Re lationships between ratings and causes 9 6

Reasons for responses 9 9

Relationships between ratings and reasons 1 01 Relationships between causes and reasons 1 0 4 EXPERIMENTAL PHASE

Relationships betwe en scales Dichotomous ra ting categories

Cross -tabulations of Set A and Set

B

responses

ADC cry categories

ADC pat terns for individual mothers Mean Scale Set responses for individual

1 0 6 1 0 8

1 09

1 1 1 1 1 4

mot hers 1 1 7

Changes in mean Scale Set responses 1 1 8

DC response patterns o f individual mothers 1 2 1

Changes in DC responses for individual mothers

Changes in DC responses for individual scales

Discussion

CONCLUSION REFER ENCE NOTES REFERENCES APPENDIX A

Instruction Sheet IS1 for Sca le Set 1 ( Study A ) Scale Set ( BK 1 5/ZL8 ) for Study A (order 0 1 ) Scale Set 1 ( BK 1 5/ ZL8 ) for Study A ( order 02 ) Instruction Sheet IS2A for Scale Set

²

( Study A )

Instruction

Sheet

^IS2B for Scale

Se t 2

(Study

A ) Scale Set 2 (MR 1 8 ) for

Study

A

^(order

0 1 )

Scale Set

²

(MR 1 8 ) for Study A ( order 0 2 ) APPENDIX B

Minimum Spanning Trees for Figures 1 -5 APPENDIX C

Consent Form for Study B APPENDIX D

page

1 24

1 27 1 29

147 153 154

162

163 164 165 166 167 168

169

170

Preliminary Medical Information Form for Study B 171 APPENDIX E

Preliminary Information Sheet for Study B 172 APPENDIX F

Diary Form for Study B : Home Phase 173 A PPENDIX G

Plots of each Infant ' s Cry Bouts During Study B : 174

Home Phase.

APPEND IX H

Instruc tion Sheet IA for Study B Scale Sheet A for Study B

APPEND IX I

Ins truction Sheet IB for Study B Scale Sheet B for Study B

Scale Sheet C for Study C

APPENDIX J

Cry Ratings on Set A and Set B: Home Phase and Experimental Phase .

GLOSSARY

Acronym s used in re ference to the v arious semant ic dif ferent ia l scale s.

I

I

page

179

180

181 182 183

184

List of Tables

Table 1 . Semantic Differential Scales Used to Describe Cry Sounds .

Table 2 . Scale Terms Used to Describe Feelings Evoked by Cry Sounds .

Table 3 . Factor Loadings for the BK 1 5 Scales . Table 4 . Factor Loadings for the ZL8 Scales . Tabl e 5 . Factor Loadings for the BK 1 5 / ZL8 Scales . Table 6 . Factor Loadings for the MR 1 8 Scales .

/

Table

1.

Factor Loadings for the BK 1 5/ ZL8/MR 1 8 Scales . Table 8 . Mean Cry Ratings and Modal Clus ter Ratings on

the BK 1 5 Scales .

Table 9 . Mean Cry Ratings and Modal Cluster Ratings on the ZL8 Scales .

- ·

Table 1 0 . Mean Cry Ratings and Modal C luster Ratings on the MR 1 8 Scales .

Table 1 1 . Characteris tics o f Cry Samples used in Previous Cry Studies .

Table 1 2 . Factor Loadings for the Set A and Set B Scales : Home Phase .

Table 1 3 . Frequency Distribu tions across the Seven-point and Dichotomous (DC ) Categories of the Set A and Set B Scales : Home Phase .

Table 1 4 . Proportion of Cries with High DC Ratings (DC

⁼

2 ) on both Set A and Set B Scales : Home Phase .

Table 1 5 . Frequency of Set B Ratings ( DC

=

2 ) in each ADC Category : Home Phase .

Table 1 6 . Cries Rated by each Mother in each ADC Category : Home Phase .

Table 1 7 . Frequency o f each Mother ' s Set A and Set B Ratings ( DC

⁼

2 ) : Home Phase .

Ta ble 1 8 . Mothers ' Ratings o f their Infant s ' Cries : Home Phase . Table 1 9 . Perceived Cause o f Crying of each Infant ' s Cries .

X

page

2

4

24

38 39

40 40

42 45

so

52

59 74

77 78

80

83

89

92

95

xi

page

Tab le 2 0 . Frequency o f·Re sponse ( DC = 2 ) on the ADC and Se t B

Sca les in each Causal Ca tegory . 97

Tab le 2 1 . Mo thers ' Reasons for the Set B Re sponse s to each o f the ir In fants ' Cr ie s .

Tab le 22 . Fr equency o f ADC a nd Se t B Ratings (DC

⁼

2 ) in each

101

Rea son Ca tegory . 103

Tab le 2 3 . Proportion o f Cr ies in each Re ason Category with High

DC Rat i ngs ( DC = 2 ) on P art icu lar Set B Sca le s . 103 Tab le

^{24 .}

Rela tionships betwe en Cau se s of Crying , Se t B

Re spon se s , and Rea sons . 105

Tab le 2 5 . Fac tor Loadings fo r the Set A and Set B Scale s :

Exper imental Pha se . 106

Tab le

^{26 .}

Fr equency Dis tributions across the Sev en-p oint and Dicoo tomou s ( DC) Ca tegories of the Set A and Set B

Scale s : Experime ntal Phase . 108

Tab l e

^27.

Proport ion of Cr ie s with High DC Rat ings ( DC =

^{2 )}

on

both Set A and Set B Sca le s : Experimental Phase . 110 Tabl e

^28.

Freq uency of Set B Ratings (DC

^{= 2 )}

in each AD C

Categor y : Experimental Phase . 112

Tabl e

^29.

Proport ion of Cr ies on each Set

^B

Scale with High DC Rat ings (DC

^{= 2 )}

in the Home Phase and Experime ntal

Pha se . 115

Tab le 30 . Cr ies ra ted by eac h Mother in each ADC Category :

Exper imental Pha s e . 116

Tab le 3 1 . Direction and Magnitude o f Changes in Mean Scale Se t Rat ings from Home Pha se to Experimental Pha se for

each Mo ther . 121

Tab le 3 2 . Fr equency of each Mo ther ' s Set A and Set B Ra tings

( DC

^{= 2 ) :}

Experimental Pha se . 122

Tab le 3 3 . Dir ection and Frequency of Changes in Ra tings (DC = 2 )

on each Scale Set for each Mo the r . 125 Table 3 4 . Direc tion and Frequency of Changes in Ratings

(DC

^{= 2 )}

on each Scale Set from Home Pha se to

Exper imenta l Phase . 128

Lis t o f Figures

Figure 1 . Cry c luste rs produced from the mean BK 1 5 scale rat ing s .

Figure 2 . BK 1 5 scale cluste rs produced from the mean cry ratings .

Figure 3 . Cry c lusters prod uced from two independent sets o f

page 43 46

BK 15 scale rat ings .

48

Figure 4 . Cry c luste rs prod uced from the mean ZL8 scale

rat ings . 49

Figur e 5 . Cry c luste rs prod uced from the mean MR 1 8 scale

rat ings . 51

Figur e

^{6 .}

Mean F 1 ra tings for the cries ra te d by each mo ther :

Home Pha se .

₈₆

Figure 7 . Mean F2 ra tings for the cries ra te d by each roothe r :

Home Pha s e .

₈₆

Figure

^8.

Mean F3 ratings for the crie s rated

by

each roother :

Home Pha se .

87

Figu re

^9.

Mean Se tB ra tings for the cries rated by each roothe r :

Home Pha se .

87

Figure 1 0 . Mean F 1 ra tings for the crie s ra te d by each mo ther :

Experimental Phase . 119

Figur e 1 1 . Mean F2 ra tings fo r the crie s ra te d by eac h mo ther :

Experimental Pha s e . 119

Figur e 1 2 . Mean. F3 ra tings for the cries ra te d b y eac h mo ther :

Experimental Pha s e . 120

Figur e 1 3 . Mean Se tB ra tings for the cries rated by each mo ther :

Experimental Pha s e . 120