The meaning of ordinary distress signals is, in instances of child abuse and neglect, determined by an unconscious mythology which the parent has about the infant, and also by what the parent finds unacceptable in oneself and project onto the infant. The recent research on mother-infant attachment is reviewed. (Author/DB)

Child-battering parents are described in the literature as having three primary behavioral characteristics: a general difficulty with the control of aggression; an aversive, unsympathetic response to distress in others; and self-isolating tendencies. Recent studies of young abused children are reviewed which show the development of similar…

The paper describes the characteristics of thriving and failure to thrive (FTT) children and their mothers and examines the effect of short-term lay health visitor intervention in cases of nonorganic failure to thrive. Three patients of interaction were identified in the FTT group, benign neglect, incoordination, over hostility. (Author/DB)

The present study was conducted to assess the personality predictors of alcohol and nicotine use styles among a group of college undergraduates. Data for this study came from a pre-existing database gathered by Dr. John R. Jacobs in 1996 from Northeastern State University. The sample consisted of 123 participants of whom 76% were female and with a…

Fathers were compared to mothers and strangers as elicitors of attachment behavior in infants. Infants usually preferred their mothers as measured by length of time taken to approach mother and use of mother as secure base. (ST)

Compares differences in the attachment behavior of infants from middle-class homes who were in day care full-time, part-time, or not at all. Results of a strange-situation procedure in a laboratory setting suggested that the length of daily separation appears to be an important determinant of day care effects on infant/mother attachment.…

Attempts to clarify the developmental precursors of different types of infant/father relationships by examining early quality of father/infant interaction as well as subsequent security of infant/father attachment. In addition, potential stability of father/infant interaction and within-age relationships between quality of interaction and…

Thirty-eight infants at age one were seen with their mothers in a strange situation test. On the basis of reunion behavior in this situation, each infant was rated for security of attachment to the mother. Maternal behaviors were observed in a mother-child free-play setting when the infants were 21 months old. (JMB)

The security of attachment between 18-month-old infants and their mothers was assessed in the Ainsworth strange situation (SS). Infant dyads created according to their SS classification were observed in unstructured peer interaction. Results indicated a relationship between quality of infant-mother attachment and infant peer competence. (JMB)

Identifies and discusses a change in the theoretical bases of contemporary psychologists' views of infant development: the replacement of the constructs of energy, drive, and motive with cognitive constructs. (CM)

It is suggested that the complexities entailed in an analysis of life span attachment require consideration of so many interacting variables that a systems approach of some kind is needed for a beginning integration. (MS)

This experiment tested the theoretical predictions concerning the patterns of visual fixation to representations of familiar and unfamiliar persons during the second quarter of the first year of life. Subjects were twelve 4-month-old and twelve 6-month-old infants. (Author/SB)

The vocal distress of 10-month-old male and female infants was manipulated by placing the infants alone either with or without toys. The results demonstrate that separation distress is not an automatic response of infants and that maternal responses to separation depend on the infant's sex. (Author/JMB)

Examined discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) vis-a-vis intelligence, social desirability, discourse style, and general social adjustment. Subjects were 53 native-English-speaking, married women with preschool children. Found modest but significant correlations between IQ scores and social adjustment. Found no relation…