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Cited by 152Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthAttachment and Relationship DynamicsPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

On the nature and consequences of early loss

Hofer, Myron A.·1996·Psychosomatic Medicine
DOI 10.1097/00006842-199611000-00005
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe how an animal model system can be used to explore basic questions about the nature of loss and the effects of early loss on later vulnerability to disease. METHOD: The physiological and behavioral responses of infant rats to separation from their mothers are first described and then analyzed experimentally into component mechanisms. RESULTS: These studies have revealed an extensive layer of processes underlying the psychological constructs generally used to understand the response to loss. Hidden within the observable interactions of parent and offspring, we found a number of discrete sensorimotor, thermal, and nutrient-based events that have unexpected long-term regulatory effects on specific components of infant physiology and behavior. Release from all of these inhibitory and excitatory regulators together during maternal separation constitutes a novel mechanism by which the experience of loss can be translated into a complex patterned response. Evidence for early regulatory processes has also been found in monkey and human mother-infant interactions. Here they may well constitute the building blocks from which attachment and object representations develop. We and others have found long-term effects of loss, and of selective replacement of regulators, on behavioral development and on later vulnerability to disease. CONCLUSIONS: The results give us a new understanding of early attachment as a developmental force and of human grief as a risk to health.

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Crossref · 10.1097/00006842-199611000-00005

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31 of 31 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The neonatal rat depends on the dam for protection from predators, nutrition, thermoregulation, and waste elimination.

    “The neonatal rat relies upon the dam for protection from predators, nutrition, thermoregulation, and proper elimination of waste (Hofer, 1996).”

    From The effects of early life stress on reward processing (2018) · cites this paper as Hofer, 1996

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Authors
Hofer, M. A.
Affiliations
New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Hofer, Myron A.
Venue
Psychosomatic Medicine
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
1996
Volume
58
Issue
6
Pages
570-581
ISSN
0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/00006842-199611000-00005
OpenAlex
W2329170882
Cited by
152
References
29
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
FWCI
0.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
early loss, maternal separation, infant rats, mother-infant interaction, attachment, grief, behavioral development, temperature regulation, nutrient regulation, object representation
MeSH terms
Age Factors, Animals, Child Development, Disease Models, Animal, Disease Susceptibility, Failure to Thrive, Grief, Homeostasis, Humans, Infant, Maternal Deprivation, Object Attachment, Rats

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