The relationship between breastfeeding, maternal sensitivity and infant social learning

• Main Author: Pang, Germaine Yun Wen
• Other Authors: Victoria Leong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138145
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Breastfeeding has been a key practice that is adopted all over the world and it is recommended that mothers breastfeed for at least 6 months. One key benefit of breastfeeding is that it increases the level of maternal sensitivity, which enables mothers to recognize infant’s cues and respond sensitively and appropriately to their needs. However, little is known whether prolonged breastfeeding beyond 6 months will bring about a further increase in the level of maternal sensitivity. As such, this study aims to explore the relationship between breastfeeding duration and maternal sensitivity. In addition, as the level of maternal sensitivity can influence the quality of mother-infant interaction, this study also investigates the relationship between maternal sensitivity and infant’s social learning. 15 infants from English-Chinse Bilingual environment (8 to 10 months old) and their mothers were recruited in this study. Breastfeeding practices of mothers were recorded in a questionnaire and dyads participated in a social learning paradigm with their mothers teaching infants about a positive and negative object. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between the duration of breastfeeding and maternal sensitivity. Likewise, there was also no significant relationship between maternal sensitivity and infant’s social learning. However, these results prompt for further exploration of other possible factors that could jointly influence the level of maternal sensitivity and infant’s social learning.