Dr. Bailey's research seeks to provide a better understanding of how children learn to cope with stress, and to form a foundation for future interventions in support of mothers and infants at risk for failing to develop organized attachment relationships.
Dr. Bailey's research seeks to provide a better understanding of how children learn to cope with stress, and to form a foundation for future interventions in support of mothers and infants at risk for failing to develop organized attachment relationships.
Preliminary research on infant's heart rate in response to moderate attachment-related stress has supported the premise that infants in secure attachment relationships cope optimally with stress, whereas infants who have failed to develop an organized attachment strategy experience a heightened reaction to stress. Attachment theory holds that parents play a critical role in fostering early attachment relationships; however, links between maternal behaviour and attachment typically have been modest, and little is known about the physiological responses of mothers to their infant's stress.