Mama's Milk Does a Baby Good.. and so does Love & Affection

In the late 60s, The Beatles sang the universally-relatable song, All You Need Is Love. Today, researchers are now suggesting the importance of mothers [or primary caretakers] showing it too. They found children who received more warmth and affection in infancy, grow up to have less emotional distress and anxiety in adulthood.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, data was collected from 482 participants born in Providence, RI, tracking them over time from the age of 8 months to an average of 34 years old.

Mothers' interaction and affection toward participating infants were assessed at the start of the study; and then the emotional health, including feelings of anxiety, hostility and general distress levels, of the children as adults were assessed decades later.

In accordance with what has long been popular belief of the positive effects of raising children in a nurturing environment but has limited/lacks sufficient evidence, researchers found that infants who received the highest amount of affection grew up to have the least emotional distress, particularly in terms of anxiety.



Vice versa was also true: those who received the least amount of affection in infancy had greater levels of emotional instability later in life.



Researchers attributed affection toward the development of social skills for healthy relationships and coping mechanisms to deal with stress and anxiety. They concluded, "These findings suggest that early nurturing and warmth have long-lasting positive effects on mental health well into adulthood."

Some strengths of the study were the size of the study's participating population and that it was longitudinal— that is, the same individuals were studied over a long period of time.

Some limitations were the questionable generalizability of the group— are those born in Providence representative of the general population?— and the skewed proportion of affectionate mothers— that is, 85% showed a 'normal' degree of affection, whereas only 6% and 10% showed a very high levels and low levels, respectively.




Nevertheless, one can never argue enough for more love & affection.




Happy Healthy Juicy Show Your Baby A Whole Lotta Love!