Depressed mothers may also have unclear understanding of the potentially
positive effects of appropriate touch (or they may be uncomfortable providing
the intimacy of contact) and/or they may inhibit their own touch because
they observe the infant is more often self-soothing. Finally, biological factors
involved in depression (i.e., low levels of serotonin, left hemisphere hypoactivation
patterns) may lower approach motivation implicit in the desire to
provide adequate and appropriate tactile simulation in depressed mothers
(Field et al., 2004a; Field, Diego, Hernandez-Reif, Gil, & Vera, 2005), a
process that may also impact an infant’s temperament and subsequent socioemotional
development.