Assessment of Mothers' Shaking Behavior of their Babies and Related Factors: An Experimental Approach Using an Accelerometer and an Infant Manikin.

Background: Our study aimed to investigate the factors associated with mothers' shaking behavior of their babies.

Methods: Sixty-three mothers who stated that they shook their babies (Group B) and 91 mothers who stated that they did not (Group A) among those who applied to or were followed up from the Pediatric Outpatient Clinics of our University Hospital were included. The mothers (with a baby aged 0-30 months) completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and psychiatric rating scales measuring attachment styles, empathic tendency, perceived social support, and self-esteem. The severity of the simulated shaking of the mothers was measured by an accelerometer placed on an infant manikin and separately scored on a Numerical Rating Scale by the researchers and an Illustrated Numeric Rating Scale by the mothers.

Results: In group B, babies' crying frequency was higher (P = .008); soothing the babies when they cried was more difficult (P = .019), mothers reported that they were exposed to physical violence more in their childhood (P = .003), BSI hostility scores (P = .004) and BSI-anxiety scores (P = .034) of the mothers were higher when compared with the group A. The age of the babies (P = .002, OR = 1.096), moderate crying frequency (P = .035, OR = 2.900), the mothers' difficulty in soothing their babies (sometimes P = .018, OR = 3.705, often/always P = .014, OR = 7.777), and the mothers' experience of physical violence in childhood (P = .002, OR = 5.674) were found to be factors affecting the shaking behavior.

Conclusion: Clarifying the factors associated with the mothers' shaking behavior of their babies would be helpful in terms of protecting future generations.