A psychologist rated the interactions between mothers and their infants from 'negative' to 'extravagant' and found that those children who who had received the most affection had the lowest levels of anxiety, hostility and general distress in adulthood. (iStock)

The more affection children receive from mothers as infants, the less anxiety they'll have in adulthood, new research from the U.S. suggests.

The findings were made by Joanna Maselko of Duke University in North Carolina.

Interactions between mothers and infants were rated by a psychologist when the children were eight months old, and the children then underwent follow-up tests in adulthood.

The study involved 482 children in Rhode Island.

The researchers wanted to test whether strong emotional bonds in early childhood provide a solid basis for tackling problems later in life. In the past, such research was based solely on childhood memories and information gathered during the first years of life.

Mothers were assessed for their reaction to their child's developmental test results, and the degree of maternal affection and attention to the baby was rated from "negative" to "extravagant."

The researchers found that:

• Ten per cent of the mothers displayed very low levels of affection toward their children.
• 85 per cent showed a "normal" degree of affection.
• Six per cent showered their children with excess amounts of affection.

Researchers tracked down more than half of the young subjects when they had reached an average age of 34 and carried out interviews and psychological profiles with them.

Those who had received the most affection had the lowest levels of anxiety, hostility and general distress, Maselko and her colleagues said.

Proposed mental health strategies

"It is striking that a brief observation of level of maternal warmth in infancy is associated with distress in adult offspring 30 years later," the study's authors wrote in Tuesday's online issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The findings held up across different socioeconomic groups.

The researchers did not find a significant relationship between low levels of mothers' affection and elevated levels of distress.

High levels of maternal affection likely foster secure attachments and bonding that not only lowers distress but may help a child develop effective life, social and coping skills, the researchers said.

"Ultimately, should findings from this study be replicated, they suggest that a combination of strategies, which empower families, improve access to high-quality childcare and provide targeted interventions to those at risk, is needed to improve overall population mental health," the paper concluded.

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University in Durham, N.C.