The Bonding Test

Infants who don’t properly bond with their mothers are at greater risk of anti-social behaviour later in life. According to a report in today’s online edition of The Scotsman, a team of Scottish researchers has developed a ten-minute test to be tried in the city of Fyfe this year. It is hoped that, if the bond between mother and infant can be tested, families with problems can be identified and quickly helped by visiting health workers.

“If the mother is unresponsive to the infant or her behaviour is repeatedly frightening to the infant, then there is a risk that the brain networks that help the child to deal with stress become unbalanced and that has been shown to lead to both mental health and other types of health problems in later life,” psychologist Bjarne Holmes told the Scotsman. Dr. Holmes is leading the research project at Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot-Watt University.

The test has two parts. First the mother is asked tocomplete a questionnaire on her own personality, psychology and how she thinks she will relate to her child. The the mother is found to be at risk based on the questionnaire, her relationship with her infant will be videotaped and a health worker will intervene by teaching the mother more responsive techniques in relating to her child.