The Effects of Mother-Infant Singing on Emotional Closeness, Affect, Anxiety And Stress Hormones

The Effects of Mother-Infant Singing on Emotional Closeness, Affect, Anxiety And Stress Hormones

The authors conclude that singing is associated with increases in perceived mother-infant closeness. The findings support previous research on the effects of singing on closeness and social bonding.

Mother-infant bonding

Mother-infant bonding takes place over a period of weeks and months after birth and is important for the development of secure infant attachment. Bonding is also associated with psychological and behavioural states of mothers.

For example, mothers experiencing anxiety or postnatal depression tend to show decreased levels of affective communication with their babies (Milligan et al, 2003). Psychopharmacological studies on postnatal depression have found that medication can reduce the symptoms of depression, but that this has little impact on mother-infant interactions and bonding.