Foster Mother–Infant Bonding: Associations Between Foster Mothers' Oxytocin Production, Electrophysiological Brain Activity, Feelings of Commitment, and Caregiving Quality

Abstract

This study examined the biological processes associated with foster mother-infant bonding. In an examination of foster mother-infant dyads (N = 41, mean infant age = 8.5 months), foster mothers’ oxytocin production was associated with their expressions of behavioral delight toward their foster infant and their average P3 response to images of all infant faces in the first two months of the relationship. Three months later, foster mothers’ oxytocin production was still associated with delight toward their foster infant and was also specifically associated with their P3 response to an image of their foster infant. Similar to biologically-related mothers and infants, oxytocin appears to be associated with foster mothers’ brain activity and caregiving behavior, with patterns suggestive of bond formation.

The Application of Electroencephalography to Investigate the Neural Bases of Parenting: A Review

“…In keeping with this, Bick, Dozier, Bernard, Grasso, and Simons (2013) found that foster mothers' P300 responses were significantly larger when viewing photographs of their own foster child compared to a familiar and an unfamiliar child. Furthermore, there was a changing relationship between maternal oxytocin levels (a neuropeptide important to maternal and affiliative behavior; MacDonald & MacDonald, 2010) and the P300 response over time: 3 months after placement, there was an association between oxytocin levels and the P300 elicited when mothers viewed their own infant's face – an effect which was absent when this relationship was assessed shortly after placement (within 60 days).…”

“…It will also be important to validate whether these neural markers of processing infant stimuli are associated with more overt measures of parenting, including parent-child interactions and self-report measures, as well as their association with neuromodulators, such as oxytocin (e.g. Bick et al, 2013; Peltola et al, 2014). Such an endeavor may also benefit from more advanced statistical analysis techniques to fully exploit the utility of EEG and ERPs (e.g., spectral analysis; Esposito, Valenzi, Islam, Mash, & Bornstein, 2014; Killeen & Teti, 2012).…”

The neurobiology of mammalian parenting and the biosocial context of human caregiving

“…However, when mothers' OT functionality was more intact, as observed in higher urinary OT or more efficient variant on the OXTR, the negative impact of maternal depression on child's propensity to psychopathology and OT response was significantly attenuated (Apter- Levy et al, 2013;Pratt et al, 2015). Low salivary OT has also been found in children diagnosed with anxiety disorders, particularly separation anxiety (Lebowitz et al, 2015); orphanage-reared children showed lower urinary OT response to parent-child interactions (Fries et al, 2005), and the increase in urinary OT among foster children was associated with foster-parent sensitivity (Bick et al 2013). These findings suggest that the OT system may provide one pathway for the cross generation transfer of psychiatric vulnerability, alongside other more well-researched pathways such as HPA-axis functioning.…”

The neural basis of responsive caregiving behaviour: Investigating temporal dynamics within the parental brain

“…One fMRI study demonstrated that mothers with secure attachment relationships (as compared to mothers with insecure/avoidant attachment) demonstrated both greater oxytocin production upon interaction with their infant and greater activation in the ventral striatum when viewing images of their own infant [147]. Similarly, an EEG study of foster mothers demonstrated that the level of oxytocin release following close contact with their infants was associated with greater P3 ERP responses (a component involved in processing stimulus salience, see Box 1) to images of infant faces [146]. In addition, intranasal oxytocin administration in women without children was associated with greater reactivity in the insula and inferior frontal gyrus and reduced reactivity in the amygdala upon hearing infant cries [148].…”

“…Studies have demonstrated that close contact with an infant can lead to an increase in oxytocin levels in both mothers and fathers [145], as well as in foster parents [146], demonstrating the ongoing impact of childrearing on hormonal fluctuations. One fMRI study demonstrated that mothers with secure attachment relationships (as compared to mothers with insecure/avoidant attachment) demonstrated both greater oxytocin production upon interaction with their infant and greater activation in the ventral striatum when viewing images of their own infant [147].…”