The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life
Antibiotics have individual and public-health drawbacks. Nevertheless, mother-infant attachment quality and maternal sensitivity are associated with antibiotic use. Ambivalent-attached infants are more likely to consume antibiotics than other infants. Conceivably, the emotional over-externalization...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/12/2/309 |
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| author | Marina Fuertes Anabela Faria Joana L. Gonçalves Sandra Antunes Francisco Dionisio |
| author_facet | Marina Fuertes Anabela Faria Joana L. Gonçalves Sandra Antunes Francisco Dionisio |
| author_sort | Marina Fuertes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Antibiotics have individual and public-health drawbacks. Nevertheless, mother-infant attachment quality and maternal sensitivity are associated with antibiotic use. Ambivalent-attached infants are more likely to consume antibiotics than other infants. Conceivably, the emotional over-externalization of ambivalent-attached infants and maternal anxiety when infants are ill raise concerns in healthcare professionals, leading to antibiotic over-prescriptions. However, because infants prematurely born, particularly those with less than 32 weeks of gestation, are under more accurate health vigilance, the impact of infant and maternal behavior on antibiotic prescription may vanish in this sample. To test this hypothesis, we performed a longitudinal study to compare antibiotic use and the quality of mother-infant attachment in three groups: 86 infants born at full-term, 44 moderate-to-late preterm infants (32–36 gestation weeks), and 58 very-to-extreme preterm infants (<32 gestation weeks). Infants’ attachment was observed with the Ainsworth Strange Situation’s experimental paradigm at 12 months of corrected age. Findings indicate that infant attachment strategy is associated with antibiotics uptake, but results vary across samples. The proportion of infants that used antibiotics is highest among ambivalent-attached infants in the full-term sample but highest among avoidant-attached infants in the very-to-extreme premature sample. Moreover, higher infant gestational age and lower maternal sensitivity determine higher antibiotic use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:15:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a0d0ee1509124dfa91956500681b6aa2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:15:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-a0d0ee1509124dfa91956500681b6aa22023-11-16T18:43:11ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822023-02-0112230910.3390/antibiotics12020309The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of LifeMarina Fuertes0Anabela Faria1Joana L. Gonçalves2Sandra Antunes3Francisco Dionisio4Centro de Psicologia, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, PortugalHospital de Santo Espírito da Ilha Terceira, 9700-049 Angra do Heroísmo, Azores, PortugalUniversidade Lusíada de Lisboa, 1349-001 Lisboa, PortugalFaculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-013 Lisboa, PortugalcE3c—Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustai-Nability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, PortugalAntibiotics have individual and public-health drawbacks. Nevertheless, mother-infant attachment quality and maternal sensitivity are associated with antibiotic use. Ambivalent-attached infants are more likely to consume antibiotics than other infants. Conceivably, the emotional over-externalization of ambivalent-attached infants and maternal anxiety when infants are ill raise concerns in healthcare professionals, leading to antibiotic over-prescriptions. However, because infants prematurely born, particularly those with less than 32 weeks of gestation, are under more accurate health vigilance, the impact of infant and maternal behavior on antibiotic prescription may vanish in this sample. To test this hypothesis, we performed a longitudinal study to compare antibiotic use and the quality of mother-infant attachment in three groups: 86 infants born at full-term, 44 moderate-to-late preterm infants (32–36 gestation weeks), and 58 very-to-extreme preterm infants (<32 gestation weeks). Infants’ attachment was observed with the Ainsworth Strange Situation’s experimental paradigm at 12 months of corrected age. Findings indicate that infant attachment strategy is associated with antibiotics uptake, but results vary across samples. The proportion of infants that used antibiotics is highest among ambivalent-attached infants in the full-term sample but highest among avoidant-attached infants in the very-to-extreme premature sample. Moreover, higher infant gestational age and lower maternal sensitivity determine higher antibiotic use.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/12/2/309prematurityantibiotic prescriptionmother-infant attachmentmaternal sensitivitystrange situationinfant cooperation |
| spellingShingle | Marina Fuertes Anabela Faria Joana L. Gonçalves Sandra Antunes Francisco Dionisio The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life Antibiotics prematurity antibiotic prescription mother-infant attachment maternal sensitivity strange situation infant cooperation |
| title | The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life |
| title_full | The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life |
| title_fullStr | The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life |
| title_short | The Association between Prematurity, Antibiotic Consumption, and Mother-Infant Attachment in the First Year of Life |
| title_sort | association between prematurity antibiotic consumption and mother infant attachment in the first year of life |
| topic | prematurity antibiotic prescription mother-infant attachment maternal sensitivity strange situation infant cooperation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/12/2/309 |
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