Known as the love or pleasure hormone, oxytocin plays an essential role in social interaction mechanisms. In particular, it influences mother-child attachment: a British study, published in the journal Development and Psychopathology, claims that infants whose mothers regularly use language to describe what their child is thinking or feeling have higher levels of oxytocin.

Researchers from University College London came to this conclusion after conducting an experiment involving 62 mothers aged between 23 and 44 and their babies, ranging from three to nine months in age. They analysed and recorded spontaneous interactions between the mothers and their babies over a five-minute period.

The experts were interested in how mothers use language to describe what their child is thinking or feeling, saying things like “you like that toy” or “you’re curious, aren’t you?” At the same time, a sample was taken from each baby to measure their oxytocin levels as they interacted with their mother.

The results showed that the more mothers interpreted and communicated their children’s feelings or emotions, the more oxytocin their children secreted. This is a major discovery, according to study co-author Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen.

“We have, for the first time, discovered that the amount a mother talks to their infant about their thoughts and feelings is directly correlated with their infant’s oxytocin levels,” she said.

“This suggests that oxytocin is involved in regulating children’s early social experience, and this is itself shaped by the way a parent interacts with their baby.”

But analysing and verbalising an infant’s emotions is not self-evident for all mothers: those suffering from postpartum depression, for example, tend to do so less frequently. It’s a legitimate cause for concern, as these interactions have a profound and long-term influence on the social and emotional skills of infants.

This underscores the importance of taking action and detecting postpartum depression as early as possible, to prevent this pathology from affecting early interactions between mother and baby.

This study is part of a growing body of scientific work highlighting the role of oxytocin not simply as a biological indicator, but as a key element in infants’ early relational and emotional interactions. It remains to be seen whether these advances will encourage parents to adapt their behaviour to take full advantage of the benefits of the love hormone.