Antibiotic Consumption, Illness, and Maternal Sensitivity in Infants with a Disorganized Attachment

Abstract

Prior research found an association between mother-infant attachment and antibiotic use. Ambivalent-attached infants are more likely to take antibiotics than other infants, and their mothers tend to be less sensitive to their needs than most. This finding is important because it shows the association between psychological processes, early relationships, and health outcomes. We aim to learn about children with high-risk attachment relationships, such as disorganized-attached infants. This study compares antibiotic use, infant-mother interactive behavior, and health indicators according to infant attachment patterns (including disorganized attachment). For this purpose, we observed mothers-infants' interactive behavior in free play at nine months and infants' attachment in the Ainsworth Strange Situation at twelve months. Participants included 77 girls and 104 boys (full-term and preterm) and their mothers. Paradoxically, mothers of disorganized-attached infants reported that their children were ill only 1.56 times on average, but 61% of their children used antibiotics in the first nine months. The other mothers reported that their children were sick 5.73 times on average, but only 54% of their children used antibiotics in the same period. Infants with disorganized attachment had mothers who were more literate and less sensitive. These results add to a body of research that shows that early high-risk relationships affect children's lives at multiple levels.

Keywords: antibiotic uptake; disorganized attachment; infant cooperation; maternal sensitivity; mother–infant attachment; prematurity.

Figure 1

Differences between the four attachment patterns. Each column represents the ratio Mean/Maximum(Means across patterns) of the mean value for each variable and for each pattern with the maximum value of that variable. For example, because the mean value of the number of diseases of disorganized-attached infants is 1.56 and the maximum value in that variable is 9.87 (avoidant-attached infants), the corresponding column in the disorganized-attached infants is at the value 1.56/9.87 = 0.16 and the column of avoidant-attached infants is at 9.87/9.87 = 1.