Association of reported infant crying and maternal parenting stress

Abstract

Infant crying is a well-recognized source of parental concern and anxiety, but little is known about other possible effects of excessive crying on parents or caretakers. The objective of this descriptive study was to investigate the relationship between reported infant crying and parenting stress. Mothers, who were consecutively enrolled at the time of their infants' well-child checkups, reported the number of minutes their infant generally cried in a 24-hour day. Excessive crying was defined as more than three hours per 24-hour day. Seventy-five of 94 mothers subsequently completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) at their infant's 4- or 6-month checkup. Mothers who reported excessive crying were 5.7 times more likely to score high on the reinforcement subscale of the PSI. Although the direction of this association is not known, it indicates that mothers who report excessive crying are more likely than other mothers to perceive a lack of positive reinforcement from their infants.