Master's Thesis: Physiological stress regulation of mother and infant in the context of maternal bonding difficulties

The Chair of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology is now offering two Master's theses in the field of physiological stress regulation of mothers and infants in the context of maternal bonding difficulties.

Infants and young children are dependent on the successful co-regulation of their emotions and stress responses by primary caregivers. These early interactions shape the development of infants' regulatory abilities. According to the model of biobehavioral synchrony, these are influenced by an interplay between the behavior and physiology of parent and child during interactions. Bonding, i.e. the emotional attachment of a parent to the baby, manifests itself on an emotional (feelings of love, affection), behavioral (affective behavior such as smiling) and neurobiological level (e.g. oxytocin levels). Maternal bonding difficulties often occur along with peripartum disorders and are associated with impaired interaction skills and co-regulation on the part of the mother as well as long-term socio-emotional developmental difficulties on the part of the infant. Findings on early biopsychological indicators of infants' ability to regulate stress in the context of maternal bonding problems are still insufficient.

The thesis includes either the preparation and analysis of a) ECG data to determine heart rate variability (mother and infant) or b) cortisol data (infant) obtained from a stress paradigm as part of a longitudinal study. The elaboration of the specific research question through the theoretically justified addition of relevant variables can be carried out according to the field of interest of the candidates.

If you are interested, you are cordially invited to send an application with the relevant documents (i.e. short letter of motivation, CV, bachelor thesis, certificates) to Lea Krumpholtz, e-mail: .