The objective of this grant is to study the potential use of acoustic features of the newborn infant cry in the identification of the infant at risk for later developmental delay. Since acoustic cry features are mediated by neurophysiological mechanisms, cry analysis could provide a non-invasive assessment of the nervous system that can be used to identify possible CNS dysfunction. Crying also affects infant outcome as mediated by the caregiving environment. Thus, another aim of this study is to determine these indirect effects of the cry. The nature of the cry sound and the amount of crying are expected to affect how parents perceive the cry, which in turn affects their caregiving of the infant and the infant's later outcome. This biosocial model of infant cry will be studied in 160 infants, 40 term and 40 preterms in each of three groups. The preterms are all 33 weeks gestation, 1.5 kilograms, and include groups of healthy, sick, and sick plus CNS disease infants. Half of the infants will be from low SES families and half will be from middle SES families. The cry is recorded during the neonatal period. Maternal perception of the cry is studied with the Cry Characteristics Questionnaire, the amount of crying at home is recorded, and the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire is administered at 1 and 9 months. The caregiving environment is measured at 9 months and infant cognitive, mental and motor development at 18 months. Acoustic cry features that measure respiratory, neural, and vocal tract aspects of physiological functioning are extracted by computer and used to predict 18-month outcome scores. These features are also used along with the amount of crying at home to predict maternal perception of the cry. Paths of optimal and non-optimal caretaking are posited to derive from maternal cry perception and affect later outcome. This study will test the cry as a potential screening tool to determine which at-risk infants are headed for handicap and show how crying influences the caretaking environment.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD021013-02
Application #
3319615
Study Section
Human Development and Aging Subcommittee 1 (HUD)
Project Start
1985-09-01
Project End
1988-08-31
Budget Start
1986-09-01
Budget End
1987-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1986
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
075706176
City
East Providence
State
RI
Country
United States
Zip Code
02915
Bard, Kim A; Brent, Linda; Lester, Barry et al. (2011) Neurobehavioral Integrity of Chimpanzee Newborns: Comparisons across groups and across species reveal gene-environment interaction effects. Infant Child Dev 20:47-93
Lester, B M; Boukydis, C F; LaGasse, L (1996) Cardiorespiratory reactivity during the Brazelton Scale in term and preterm infants. J Pediatr Psychol 21:771-83
Lester, B M; Boukydis, C F; Garcia-Coll, C T et al. (1995) Developmental outcome as a function of the goodness of fit between the infant's cry characteristics and the mother's perception of her infant's cry. Pediatrics 95:516-21
Rapisardi, G; Vohr, B; Cashore, W et al. (1989) Assessment of infant cry variability in high-risk infants. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 17:19-29
Lester, B M; Anderson, L T; Boukydis, C F et al. (1989) Early detection of infants at risk for later handicap through acoustic cry analysis. Birth Defects Orig Artic Ser 25:99-118
Lester, B M (1987) Developmental outcome prediction from acoustic cry analysis in term and preterm infants. Pediatrics 80:529-34