Attachment theorists argue that the nature of children's bonding with their parents has a significant impact on their adjustment throughout life, affecting ease of socialization and susceptibility to anxiety and depression. To examine the relationship between parental attachment, social support, and current life satisfaction, 251 college students…

The paper offers a play therapist's evidence for the curative power of intensive mother-child holding of children with emotional problems resulting from separation from the parent and emotional disturbances including autism. Dramatic improvements were observed in the play behaviors of autistic children after enforced cuddling--and these were…

In his article "The 'Effects' of Infant Day Care Reconsidered," Jay Belsky (see PS 017 108) concludes that maternal employment puts infants at risk for developing emotional insecurity and social maladjustment. After a review of Belsky's and other research, a different conclusion is offered in this paper. It is agreed that infants whose…

This study designed and tested the Relationship Self Inventory (RSI) intended to measure the self-descriptive value of Gilligan's "connected self-in-relation-to-others" model. Gilligan's research indicates that the formation of self based on connection with others and an orientation to care (connected self) is associated primarily with…

Residents in several states and communities ranging in size from farms to inner cities of more than 500,000 people were surveyed to further explore the strong relationship between community ties and newspaper readership indicated by results of a previous study sponsored by the American Newspaper Publishers Association. The findings revealed that…

Love which focuses on an emotional relationship involving some sense of commitment and either an ongoing sexual relationship or the potential for such a relationship is viewed and defined in a variety of ways. Despite the fact that the major portion of a treatise on love devotes itself to a consideration of tendance in love (i.e. aquisitive,…

To investigate the relationship of differences in 2-year-old children's reactions to strangers to differences in their temperaments and their security of attachment with their mothers, a correlational study was conducted with 47 infants and their parents. In the first component of the study, both parents completed a child temperament rating…

The preference of the infant for mother versus father as an attachment figure and as a secure base for exploration is examined in this study. Subjects were fifteen 15-month-old infants whose mothers were their primary caregiver. The Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure was modified to permit both parents' simultaneous presence during separation…

Theories furthering understanding of the effects of child rearing practices on psychiatric disturbance are briefly reviewed. Particular attention is given to family dynamics, the double-bind hypothesis, and the development of schizophrenia and related border line syndromes that lead to psychotic phenomena. The issue of child rearing practices is…

The paper examines the meaning of transitional objects and attachment to significant others in 18 severely retarded children (mean age 5.2 years). Five case studies illustrate that the use of objects and attachments can be seen as a normal phenomenon and that often the children are responding appropriately to emotional events with behaviors near…

Men and women see themselves as contributing different types of resources to relationships. Women feel they contribute particularistic resources--resources directed toward particular persons; men feel they contribute universalistic resources--resources directed toward any occupant of some position. Men and women have accumulated very different…

This study examined the effects of increasing the amount and quality of father-son interaction at home on attachment and separation behavior in the laboratory situation. Twenty boys, 12 months of age, and their low interacting fathers participated in this study. Twelve father-son pairs received a list of games to be played each evening over a…

This study tested the hypothesis that Soviet day care children (aged 16 to 38 months) derive emotional support from the presence of their group-mates. Children were observed in a strange situation in one of three conditions: with a familiar peer (a group-mate), with an unfamiliar peer (a child from another group), or alone (without a peer). An…

Cites research studies suggesting the importance of early mother-infant, father-infant interaction, and gives several examples of the varied new approaches in hospitals and medical centers which encourage early prenatal contact both for normal and premature infants. (BR)

Verbal and nonverbal behaviors of fifty 2-year-old children and their mothers were recorded during free play, departure, and separation situations. Measures of the child's and mother's cognitive abilities and maternal cognitive style were also obtained. Sex and social class differences in child and maternal behaviors within each situation were…