Grant: Operating Grant

Shaken Baby Syndrome (or SBS; also known as Abusive Head Trauma) and infant abuse in general is an individual, family and societal tragedy. New evidence has clearly demonstrated that caregiver frustration with normal increased early infant crying in completely healthy newborns tiggers SBS in the vast majority of cases. New community-based efforts have targeted caregiver understanding of early increased infant crying as a way of preventing these tragic occurrences. In this project, we examine how prolonged bouts of infant crying generate such frustration in caregivers that it can lead to abuse. In a series of studies, we use 'crying sounds' and 'crying dolls' as subjects, and parents-to-be, adolescents and parent adults as participants. In ethically sound experiments, we elicit affective and emotional responses to crying behavior in a variety of forms under a variety of conditions. The results will provide for the first time empirical descriptions of how caregivers get from inconsolable infant crying to frustration as the precursor of shaking in rigorous trials. The results will contribute to new efforts to prevent the devastation of infant SBS and abuse.