Patricia T. Becker, Ph.D., RN, FAAN

Title: Helen Denne Schulte Professor Emerita
Phone: (608) 263-5194
E-mail: ptbecker@facstaff.wisc.edu
Support Staff (for RINAH): Kay Martin
Office Address:

H6/222
600 Highland Avenue
Madison WI 53792-2455

Degree Information:

Description of Research Focus:

My research involves investigating how aspects of the caregiving environment interact with child characteristics to shape the early development of children at risk for atypical development. I have examined how interactions with parents and family dynamics relate to a variety of outcomes for children of adolescent and adult single mothers and for children with identified developmental delay. Currently I am studying physiological and behavioral responses of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants to the caregiving environment of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The NICU has been shown to cause both physiological and behavioral stress in these infants, potentially contributing to the long term developmental problems for which they are at risk. This research involves evaluating the effects of an intervention to reduce the distress that VLBW infants experience during handling for routine nursing care. In this intervention, we modified the way that the nurses deliver care, making it more responsive to the individual infant reactions and more supportive of developmental functions. A particular interest throughout my research has been in the infant’s sleep and waking states of arousal, an aspect of infant behavior that closely reflects both the infant’s neurophysiological functioning and interactions with the social environment.

Teaching/Course Responsibilities:
(excluding independent study courses)

Representative Publications:

Becker, P. T., Brazy, J. E., & Grunwald, P. C. (1997). Behavioral state organization of very low birth weight infants: Effects of developmental handling during caregiving. Infant Behavior and Development, 20(1), 503-514.

Becker, P. T., Engelhardt, K .F., Steinmann, M. F., & Kane, J. (1997). Infant age, context, and family system influences on the interactive behavior of mothers of infants with mental delay. Research in Nursing & Health, 20, 39-50.

Becker, P., Houser, B., Engelhardt, K., & Steinmann, M. (1993). Father and mother contributions to family functioning when the child has a mental delay. Early Development and Parenting, 3(2), 145-155.