Practice Test Geeks(PMH-C) Perinatal Mental Health Certification Practice Test
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Infant Bonding Flashcards

7 cards from real PMH-C practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Infant Bonding flashcards as text

  1. Which theoretical framework emphasizes that an infant's internal working model of relationships is built through repeated early bonding interactions?

    Answer: Attachment theory (Bowlby)

    Bowlby's attachment theory proposes that infants construct internal working models based on repeated experiences with caregivers that guide future relationships.

  2. A mother who experienced childhood trauma is struggling with bonding. Which perinatal mental health intervention has the strongest evidence for improving mother-infant interaction in this population?

    Answer: Dyadic or parent-infant therapy such as Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)

    Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) has robust evidence for improving attachment in mothers with trauma histories by addressing the dyadic relationship directly.

  3. Which of the following is a recognized risk factor for impaired maternal-infant bonding?

    Answer: Infant admission to the NICU

    NICU admission disrupts early skin-to-skin contact and continuous caregiving, significantly increasing risk of bonding difficulties.

  4. The 'still face' paradigm developed by Tronick demonstrates which important concept about infant bonding?

    Answer: Infants are highly sensitive to breaks in contingent social interaction and show distress

    Tronick's still face experiment showed infants rapidly detect and are distressed by a caregiver's unresponsive face, demonstrating the importance of contingent interaction.

  5. A nurse asks how to support bonding for a mother who had an emergency cesarean section and is recovering in the ICU. What is the BEST guidance?

    Answer: Bring the infant to the bedside for skin-to-skin contact as soon as medically feasible

    Facilitating skin-to-skin contact as soon as medically safe, even in the ICU, supports bonding and is now standard practice in many institutions.

  6. Which feeding method is associated with elevated oxytocin levels and enhanced maternal-infant bonding in the postpartum period?

    Answer: Breastfeeding

    Breastfeeding stimulates repeated oxytocin release through nipple stimulation, reinforcing maternal bonding behaviors with each feeding.

  7. When assessing maternal-infant bonding, the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) screens for which of the following?

    Answer: Impaired bonding, rejection, anxiety, and risk of abuse

    The PBQ is a validated tool assessing multiple dimensions of bonding difficulty including emotional rejection, anxiety about caregiving, and potential for harm.