The language mothers use affects babies’ oxytocin levels

Oxytocin, a hormone involved in a number of psychological processes, plays an important role in social relationships, such as the development of bond between parent and child throughout life, the formation of trust and social understanding.

For published research Development and Psychopathology, 62 new mothers, aged 23 to 44 and with babies aged three to nine months, were filmed interacting naturally with their babies for five minutes.

The researchers analyzed the videos to see how accurately the mother referred to her baby’s internal experience (e.g., her thoughts, feelings, desires, and perceptions) during the interaction.

They also collected saliva samples from the baby and measured the level of the hormone oxytocin.

When the relationship between these two measurements was analyzed, the researchers found a positive correlation.

Lead author Dr Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen (UCL Psychology and Linguistics) said: “The hormone oxytocin has long been known to play a role in close social relationships, including the attachment bond between a mother and her child. It is also known that how well a mother attunes to her baby’s thoughts and feelings in the first year of life is a long-term determinant of the child’s social and emotional development. However, the pathways underlying these effects are unclear.

“For the first time, we discovered that the amount of time a mother talks to her baby about her baby’s thoughts and feelings is directly related to her baby’s oxytocin level. “This suggests that oxytocin plays a role in regulating children’s early social experiences, which in turn are shaped by the way parents interact with their babies.”

For example, when a child shows interest in a toy, a parent who understands his child’s inner state may say: “Oh, you like this toy” or “You excited” and may imitate their child’s movements or facial expressions. In this way, the parent reflects the child’s internal experience, and new results now show that this also affects the baby’s oxytocin system.

The team also found that mothers who experienced postpartum depression were less likely to address their babies’ internal states than mothers who did not experience depression.

Dr Lindley Baron-Cohen said: “This study reveals a new psychobiological link between mothers and their babies, in which the mother’s emotionally sensitive speech is reflected in her baby’s hormone levels.

“This highlights the key role mothers play in their children’s early development and shows how mothers experiencing depression can be supported to facilitate their children’s social development.”

This research was funded by the Psychoanalytic Research Fund through the National Institute for Health Research (NIRH) ARC North Thames, the Lord Leonard and Lady Estelle Wolfson Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the University of York, the American Psychoanalytical Association and the International Psychoanalytical Association. , Michael Samuel Charitable Trust, Denman Charitable Trust and Galvani Foundation.