The role of oxytocin in mother-infant relations : a systematic review of human studies

Background: Oxytocin is associated with the establishment and quality of maternal behavior in animal models. Parallel investigations in humans are now under way. This article reviews the current research examining the role of oxytocin in mother-infant relations, attachment, and bonding in humans. Methods: A systematic search was made of three electronic databases and other bibliographic sources for published research studies that examined oxytocin and mother-infant relations in humans, including attachment, maternal behavior, parenting, and mother-infant relations. Results: Eight studies were identified, all of which were unique in their methodologies, populations studied, and measures used. Seven studies found significant and strong associations between levels or patterns of oxytocin and aspects of mother-infant relations or attachment. Conclusions: Oxytocin appears to be of crucial importance for understanding mother-infant relationships. The findings of this review suggest that the pioneering, but preliminary, research undertaken to date is promising and that replication with larger samples is needed. Research that draws on more robust measures of attachment and bonding, as well as improved measures of oxytocin that include both central and peripheral levels, will elucidate the role of oxytocin in human mother-infant relationships. As the production of oxytocin is by no means restricted to mothers, the extension of the oxytocin studies to fathering, as well as to alloparental caregiving, would be an intriguing next step.

Child maltreatment in stepfamilies : the impact of mother's dating behaviour

This thesis explored the relative utility of evolutionary and ecological theories to understand under which conditions children in non-biological families are most at risk of childmaltreatment.  The study revealed that single-mothers have complex needs and stressors, which may increase their vulnerability and impact on decisions made in selection of partners.

Sacred time after emigration : a study of the Holy Mother Festival in Zavoj

In Zavoj, a mountainous village in the Republic of Macedonia, the Day of the Holy Mother is the most significant day in the village's ritual calendar. The Day of the Holy Mother, like other holy days associated with saints, is a religious festival in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar; and Zavoj, like other villages, identifies with a particular holy day, in this case that of the Holy Mother. Festival is historically and etymologically linked to feast, a celebration in honour of gods, and the Day of the Holy Mother, like the two principal feasts in the Christian calendar, the Feast of Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) and the Feast of Resurrection (Easter), is a religious celebration that includes a feast in honour of the saint, traditionally as a breaking of a fast. Importantly, many Zavoj emigrants return to the village for the festival on the Day of the Holy Mother. Over recent years both village and the festival have been transformed, due to large and continuing emigration and the demise of the resident peasant generation. This chapter will examine the changes in the festival, comparing that of 1988, when the village was inhabited, with that of 2007, when there were only a few people resident and by which time many of the peasant generation had passed on. As a result of emigration the village is emptied of its inhabitants, yet it remains the site of, and destination for, the continuity of the annual festival.

'Mother, teacher, adviser and missionary' : Matilda Ward in North Queensland, 1891–1917

This chapter focuses on Matilda Ward, a missionary at the Presbyterian mission of Mapoon, north Queensland, and the first paid woman missionary to work on an Aboriginal mission. It examines the factors that led to Ward’s employment on the mission, the role that she played in the life of the mission and the consequences of her actions for Indigenous mission residents. While Matilda Ward was unusual for her time, her experience points to broader shifts in missionary practice and attitudes to gender within the Australian churches, particularly through the development of women’s missionary societies.

Toad's tongue for breakfast : exploitation of a novel prey type, the invasive cane toad, by scavenging raptors in tropical Australia

Although interest in the ecological impacts of invasive species has largely focused on negative effects, some native taxa may benefit from invader arrival. In tropical Australia, invasive cane toads (Bufo marinus) have fatally poisoned many native predators (e.g., marsupials, crocodiles, lizards) that attempt to ingest the toxic anurans, but birds appear to be more resistant to toad toxins. We quantified offtake of dead (road-killed) cane toads by raptors (black kites (Milvus migrans) and whistling kites (Haliastur sphenurus)) at a site near Darwin, in the Australian wet-dry tropics. Raptors readily took dead toads, especially small ones, although native frogs were preferred to toads if available. More carcasses were removed in the dry season than the wet season, perhaps reflecting seasonal availability of alternative prey. Raptors appeared to recognize and avoid bufotoxins, and typically removed and consumed only the toads’ tongues (thereby minimizing toxin uptake). The invasion of cane toads thus constitutes a novel prey type for scavenging raptors, rather than (as is the case for many other native predators) a threat to population viability.

A parent focused child obesity prevention intervention improves some mother obesity risk behaviors : the Melbourne infant program

Background

The diets, physical activity and sedentary behavior levels of both children and adults in Australia are suboptimal. The family environment, as the first ecological niche of children, exerts an important influence on the onset of children's habits. Parent modeling is one part of this environment and a logical focus for child obesity prevention initiatives. The focus on parent's own behaviors provides a potential opportunity to decrease obesity risk behaviors in parents as well.
Objective

To assess the effect of a parent-focused early childhood obesity prevention intervention on first-time mothers' diets, physical activity and TV viewing time.
Methods

The Melbourne InFANT Program is a cluster-randomized controlled trial which involved 542 mothers over their newborn's first 18 months of life. The intervention focused on parenting skills and strategies, including parental modeling, and aimed to promote development of healthy child and parent behaviors from birth, including healthy diet, increased physical activity and reduced TV viewing time. Data regarding mothers' diet (food frequency questionnaire), physical activity and TV viewing times (self-reported questionnaire) were collected using validated tools at both baseline and post-intervention. Four dietary patterns were derived at baseline using principal components analyses including frequencies of 55 food groups. Analysis of covariance was used to measure the impact of the intervention.
Results

The scores of both the "High-energy snack and processed foods" and the "High-fat foods" dietary patterns decreased more in the intervention group: -0.22 ([MINUS SIGN]0.42;-0.02) and [MINUS SIGN]0.25 ([MINUS SIGN]0.50;-0.01), respectively. No other significant intervention vs. control effects were observed regarding total physical activity, TV viewing time, and the two other dietary patterns, i.e. "Fruits and vegetables" and "Cereals and sweet foods".
Conclusions

These findings suggest that supporting first-time mothers to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors in their infants impacts maternal dietary intakes positively. Further research needs to assess ways in which we might further enhance those lifestyle behaviors not impacted by the InFANT intervention.

Mother-daughter communication about mammography in an Australian sample

Breast cancer is a significant health problem for aging women. Despite constant efforts to promote mammography in Australia to facilitate early detection, screening rates through the national mammography screening service remain at just 57%. Based on a theoretical rationale informed by Family Communication Patterns theory, the current study used semi-structured interviews with Australian mother-daughter dyads (N = 8) to examine their health communication, with a view to exploring the potential for daughters to deliver mammography promotion messages to their mothers. Consistent with results of previous studies conducted in different cultural contexts, the Australian mothers and daughters in this sample frequently communicated about health topics. Daughters were a source of information and influence for their mother's health decision making. The delivery of mammography promotion messages to the mother by the daughter may be most successful for dyads that value bidirectional conversation. Aspects of the Australian culture may facilitate the success of this strategy.

Conversations with my mother

An intense and sometimes disturbing series of encounters between the filmmaker and his mother as they relive the traumatic years of his childhood and adolescence. Following the migration of the family to Australia from Holland in the difficult postwar years they had to grapple with problems of housing, social injustice and adjustment made more difficult by the father's mental illness. For the filmmaker 'the sentiment had to be uncompromisingly true' although he became aware that 'all film is fiction'.

An Iranian migrant mother's production of selves through her family photograph collection

In researching migrant identities, visual methodology offers much promise and yet there is a marked lack of recent research that makes use of visual methods. Previous studies of migrant identities have privileged verbal representations of identities. Gillian Rose's (2010) work with mothers and their family photographs in the United Kingdom, in which she describes the role of family photographs in both producing social subject positions and in maintaining family togetherness across distances, is a useful model for research into the construction and negotiation of migrant identities.

The literature on family photography suggests that it is usually the woman/mother who takes on the role of making the family photograph album; of narrating the family's story (Rose, 2010; Holland, 2009; 1991; Chambers, 2003). The family photograph collection, together with the participant's interwoven verbal interpretation, is a particularly relevant data source for use in identity research as there is the potential for key themes of place, mobilities and space to be explored at new depth and from a feminist perspective.

This paper will report on an ethics approved study of one Iranian migrant mother and her family photograph collection, focusing on her representation of the identities and subjectivities of herself and her children through photographs taken following migration to Australia. The paper will consider the participant's family photographs as both visual objects and visual-verbal narratives produced within historically and culturally situated discourses. It will explore how photographs and oral interpretations cohere to enable migrant mothers to re/produce selves. The paper will examine the production of subject positions specifically in relation to place, mobilities and space.

The research is situated within critical visual ethnography and is informed by a reflexive feminist approach. The meaning making of the photographs under study will be explored at the sites of production, image, and audience. The combined visual-verbal methods used in this study aim to provide a new contribution to the literature on migrant identities and form the basis of a scaled up research design of a larger cohort of mothers.