The tactile context of a mother’s caregiving: implications for attachment of low birth weight infants☆

Abstract This study examined the degree to which specific properties of maternal touch may be associated with a low birth weight infant’s security of attachment at one year of age, considering the potential modifying effects of maternal sensitivity and history of touch as well as infant gender and biological vulnerability. One hundred and thirty one socioculturally diverse infants and their mothers were evaluated for medical complications during the neonatal period. Videotapes were made of the infant-mother dyads during an infant feeding at three months of age. Each videotape was analyzed for a mother’s properties of touch and her sensitivity as well as for infant responsiveness. When the infant was six months old, each mother completed a questionnaire to determine felt security regarding her own history of touch as a child. Researchers completed the Attachment Q-Set for each infant at one year of age. Analysis of covariance indicated that sheer frequency of touch had no relationship to infant attachment but use of nurturing touch by mothers was associated with security of attachment. However, the degree of infant vulnerability (i.e., perinatal complications, birthweight, and responsiveness) moderated the effects of nurturing touch. Nurturing touch was associated with more secure attachment for robust infants but with less secure attachment for highly vulnerable babies. Neither maternal sensitivity nor gender appeared to moderate the relationship of touch to attachment or to have any direct relationship to attachment outcomes. Infant vulnerability decreased the likelihood of a secure attachment while a mother’s felt security regarding her own tactile experience as a child increased her infant’s chances of having a secure attachment.