Maternal stress and infant development in the Japanese monkey

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Maternal stress, defined as stress which females experience while they are pregnant, give birth, and take care of their infants through interactions with group members, was assessed both in Japanese monkeys of a free-ranging group and in those of captivity.(1)Free-ranging situation: Comparisons of female behaviors between the periods before and after giving birth were made. In the resting situation, females after giving birth, that is, mothers, tended to be less active, spend in proximity to a greater number of group members, and start less frequently than did females before giving females ( pregnant females). In the feeding situation, mothers moved and looked around less frequently than did pregnant females. These results indicate that giving birth and taking care of infants do not necessarily bring more stress on females.(2) Individually caged mother-infant pairs: Mother-infant interactions between individually caged mothers and their infants were not different from those in social groups. However, individual caging seemed to be more stressful for mothers with their infants aged 5 or more months than those having infants of less than 5 months old. This is probably related to the fact that from around the fifth month onward infants in social groups come to interact frequently with group members other than their mothers, while infants caged with only their mothers are forced to interact with mothers because of lack of other group members.(3) Capturing pregnant females of free-ranging groups and caging them may bring chronic stress on them that stressor seems to effect their maternal behavior.