Assessing the social behavior of infants: Use of the ADBB Scale and relationship to mother's mood

Stephen Matthey; Antoine Guedeney; Nafsica Starakis; Bryanne Barnett

doi:10.1002/imhj.20061

Assessing the social behavior of infants: Use of the ADBB Scale and relationship to mother's mood

Infant Ment Health J. 2005 Sep;26(5):442-458. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20061.

Authors

Stephen Matthey¹, Antoine Guedeney², Nafsica Starakis³, Bryanne Barnett⁴

Affiliations

¹ Sydney South West Area Health Service.
² Hopital Bichat-Claude Bernard.
³ Department of Social Action, Infancy and Health, Paris.
⁴ Sydney South West Area Health Service and University of New South Wales.

PMID: 28682495
DOI: 10.1002/imhj.20061

Abstract

Infants can show a range of social behavior when interacting with their main caregiver. Previous work has demonstrated that when the caregiver is depressed, the infant may demonstrate withdrawn behavior not only to this person but also to others. This pilot study used a relatively new assessment tool, the Alarme Distress de Bebe Scale (ADBB; Guedeney and Fermanian, 2001), to assess the social behavior of 44 infants during a routine physical checkup. Results indicated that withdrawn infant social behavior to the clinician was related to the mother's report of whether she had felt more irritable, sad, anxious, or depressed since the birth, but not to her current mood as rated by her score on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (Cox, Holden & Sagovsky, 1987). The psychometric properties of the ADBB also were explored. The findings are further evidence for the need to screen for mood difficulties in women with infants not just by focusing on a woman's current mood but also her mood since the infant's birth.