effects of birth order on Maternal Behaviors towards newborns
Journal Of Genetic Psychology Volume 148

            In the Journal of Genetic Psychology (Volume 148), Nathan Gottfried from the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, reports his findings on the effects of the gender and birth order of newborns on maternal behaviors during bottle feeding sessions at a state-operated hospital.  Gottfried cites prior studies in which differences in maternal behaviors towards infants were identified to be sensitive to infant birth order and gender.  He notes that any pre-attachment patterns on the part of the mother that might explain these differences remained to be determined and clarified.

            The aim of this study, then, was to establish a predictive link between infant gender and birth order and any respective maternal attachment behavior.  Gottfried notes that such a link is significant, since gender and birth order are characteristics immediately known to the mother prior to almost any environmental or experiential interaction she has with the infant.  Since the neonatal state, in the first few hours and days of life, is ultimately passive and minimally responsive, maternal attachment behavior is seen to be controlled against the effects that individual infant traits or behaviors might have on it.

            This was a correlational study of 20 low-income African-American mothers who had delivered within 72 hours of the study’s observations. The observations were conducted in a hospital staff lounge during early morning 15 minute sessions of bottle feedings.  The mothers’ behaviors towards their infants were categorized into attachment behaviors and instrumental behaviors; attachment behaviors seen as indicating emotional messages and relationship expectations of the mothers and instrumental behaviors seens as task-oriented, pragmatic actions related to feeding. 

             Three nurse’s aides, who acted as temporary caregivers and whose behavior towards the infants was scored for the same elements as the mothers, were included in the observations to achieve controlled identification and distinction in these categories of behavior.  These temporary caregivers were expected to demonstrate primarily only instrumental behaviors towards the infants.