Infant Bonding Flashcards

An adoptive mother at 6 weeks reports she does not yet feel love for her adopted newborn. How should the clinician respond?

Answer: Normalize that bonding can develop gradually and explore any barriers or mental health concerns

Bonding in adoptive parents often develops over time; the clinician should normalize this while screening for depression, anxiety, or other barriers.

Which of the following infant characteristics is MOST likely to challenge caregivers' bonding capacity?

Answer: Temperamentally 'difficult' or highly reactive infant

Infants with difficult temperaments who are hard to soothe place high demands on caregivers and can strain the developing attachment relationship.

Which concept describes the clinician's observation of the quality of a mother's emotional investment and representational world around her infant?

Answer: Parental reflective functioning

Reflective functioning (or mentalization) refers to a parent's capacity to hold the infant's inner states in mind, and is strongly linked to attachment quality.

A mother discloses she has intrusive thoughts of accidentally harming her baby but is horrified by them and does not want to act on them. This MOST likely represents:

Answer: Ego-dystonic obsessional thoughts associated with postpartum OCD

Ego-dystonic intrusive harm obsessions are a hallmark of postpartum OCD; the mother's distress and lack of intent distinguish this from psychosis.

Which aspect of the caregiving environment most strongly predicts transmission of attachment patterns across generations?

Answer: Unresolved maternal loss or trauma (assessed via Adult Attachment Interview)

Research using the Adult Attachment Interview shows that unresolved maternal loss or trauma is the strongest predictor of disorganized infant attachment.

Which of the following is a core feature of 'disorganized attachment' in infants?

Answer: Contradictory or collapsed behavioral strategies when the caregiver is both a source of fear and comfort

Disorganized attachment occurs when the caregiver is simultaneously the source of fear and comfort, producing contradictory, disoriented behaviors in the infant.

A lactation consultant asks when to refer a breastfeeding mother who seems persistently disengaged during feeds. What is the BEST criterion for referral to perinatal mental health?

Answer: When emotional disengagement persists beyond two weeks and is accompanied by mood or anxiety symptoms

Persistent emotional disengagement during feeding lasting beyond two weeks, especially with mood or anxiety symptoms, warrants mental health referral.