Crying is a powerful solicitation of caregiving, yet little is known about the cognitive processes underpinning caring responses to crying others. This study examined (1) whether crying (compared to sad and happy) faces differentially elicited semantic activation of caregiving, and (2) whether individual differences in cognitive and emotional empathy moderated this activation. Ninety participan...

BACKGROUND Infants with neonatal cerebral insults are susceptible to excessive crying as a result of difficulties with self-regulation. AIMS To compare the effectiveness of swaddling versus massage therapy in the management of excessive crying of infants with cerebral insults. METHODS Randomised three-week parallel comparison of the efficacy of two intervention methods. Infants with symptom...

We summarize popular and pre-scientific conceptions of the relationship between crying, well-being and health, and we review the scientific literature on this topic. First, the focus is on whether crying brings relief and facilitates emotional recovery. Next, we discuss the evidence addressing whether crying or its chronic inhibition is associated with an increased risk of developing health pro...

The present study examined the beliefs of people on how they respond to individuals with different kinds of facial expressions, including crying. A total of 104 participants viewed photographs of individuals posing crying, neutral, anger, and fear expressions. They indicated how they would judge the person, how they would feel in the presence of the person, and how they would respond to the per...

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is an index of the vagal control of heart rate that is associated with emotion regulatory capacity. To examine RSA in depressed and nondepressed participants in the context of an emotion-regulatory challenge, we presented a sad film to induce crying, a behavior associated with heightened parasympathetic activation. We predicted that nondepressed persons who cr...

abstract introduction humans in the last trimester of gestation are assumed to be in a pain-free environment in the womb, but those neonates who are born preterm often spend weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (nicu) and undergo numerous painful procedures as part of their routine care. materials and methods in this semi-experimental study, 70 preterm infants born at average 32 to 36 week...

BACKGROUND Shaken baby syndrome often occurs after shaking in response to crying bouts. We questioned whether the use of the educational materials from the Period of PURPLE Crying program would change maternal knowledge and behaviour related to shaking. METHODS We performed a randomized controlled trial in which 1279 mothers received materials from the Period of PURPLE Crying program or contr...

BACKGROUND The etiology of excessive infant crying is largely unknown. We hypothesize that excessive infant crying may have an early nutritional origin during fetal development. AIMS This study is the first to explore whether (1) maternal vitamin B-12 and folate status during pregnancy are associated with excessive infant crying, and (2) whether and how maternal psychological well-being durin...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence of infant crying and maternal soothing techniques in relation to ethnic origin and other sociodemographic variables. DESIGN A questionnaire survey among mothers of 2-3 month old infants registered at six child health clinics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. SUBJECTS A questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and crying behaviour was completed ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between infant temperament characteristics assessed at 4 weeks of age and the duration of infant crying and fussing during the second month of life. DESIGN Families were enrolled in this prospective study during prenatal classes, and 60 infants completed the study. Temperament was assessed when the infant was 4 weeks of age using the Early Infancy Tem...