Stress, Zebras and Mothers Love

Enthusiastic Loving Mothers Produce Resilient Adults

Loving mothers are known to raise stress resistant adults but in the future a vaccine might make the rest of us more resilient when it comes to coping with stress. People all handle stress differently and those among us who do not handle stress well are heading for future health problems.

People lucky enough to be born to mothers who were exceptionally affectionate towards them as babies usually grow up to be adults that handle stress well and are generally more resilient adults when it comes to dealing with life’s knocks.

Research published in July 2010 by Assistant Professor Joanna Maselko, at Duke University in North Carolina USA has found that babies whose mothers were enthusiastically affectionate were better able to handle stress, anger and hostility in adulthood. These ‘much loved as a child’ adults were also more sensitive and suffered less anxiety than other adults.

Babies and Mothers Studied

The study started some years ago when 482 babies were studied at 8 months of age and their mothers were observed and rated according to the levels of affection they displayed towards them.

The mothers were assessed and ranked as being negative to warm in their affections and caressing or extravagantly affectionate towards their babies.

The study found that around 10% of the mothers showed a low level of maternal affection and 6% showed a very high level of maternal affection. The remaining 84% were regarded as displaying ‘normal’ levels of maternal affection.

The children were interviewed again when they were 34 year old adults. Their adult emotional functioning capacity was assessed by a scientifically designed checklist designed to catch reactions to specific and general types of distress.