Maternal sensitivity and mother-infant attachment are associated with antibiotic uptake in infancy. (August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fuertes, Marina; Gonçalves, Joana L; Faria, Anabela; Lopes-dos-Santos, Pedro; Conceição, Inês C; Dionisio, Francisco
• Is Part Of: Journal of health psychology. Volume 27:Number 9(2022)
• Page Start: 2197
• Page End: 2210
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Subjects: antibiotics -- attachment style -- health care -- infants -- maternal sensitivity; Clinical health psychology -- Periodicals; 613.019
• DOI: 10.1177/1359105320941245
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-1053

Abstract

Attachment security has been associated with health status and symptom reporting. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the association between antibiotics uptake by infants at 9-months and mother-infant attachment at 12-months. Logistic regression analyses indicated that lower maternal sensitivity was associated with increased odds of antibiotic uptake. Furthermore, 89.7% of insecure-ambivalent infants consumed antibiotics, which contrasted with 32.5% of avoidant infants and 21.5% of secure infants. This study suggests that maternal behavior and mother-infant attachment impact on antibiotic consumption, which is worrying because antibiotics may lead to several health problems later in life and antibiotic-resistance.