This report is based on a longitudinal analysis of physical-contact interaction of mother-infant pairs throughout the first year of life. The sample consisted of 26 middle-class mother-infant pairs who were observed in their homes for four hours once every three weeks. During each visit, the observer made a running record of everything that…

Investigated the relationship between maternal alcohol consumption and infant attachment behavior at one year of age. Infants were classified as secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent/resistant, or insecure-disorganized/disoriented. More infants of mothers who had consumed more alcohol were insecure in comparison with infants whose mothers…

Previously published data on infants aged 12 and 13 months who were observed in the Strange Situation with their mothers and fathers were reanalyzed using a component process approach. (PCB)

The relation between resumption of full-time employment by mothers of infants, and subsequent infant-mother and infant-father attachments, was examined. No relation emerged between maternal work status and the quality of infants' attachments to their mothers. (PCB)

Infants whose mothers were supportive of their autonomy displayed greater task-oriented persistence and competence during play than did infants of more controlling mothers; securely attached and avoidant infants tended to exhibit greater persistence at tasks than anxious-ambivalent babies, and ambivalent babies were the most negative in affect.…

Studies the effects of mothers' presence and absence on two infants from birth to two years. (AJ)

To investigate the nature of young infants' social competence, the effect of depressed maternal expression during face-to-face interaction was examined. An experimental analogue of maternal depression was employed. Subjects were 12 female and 12 male infants, ages 96 to 110 days, and their mothers. (Author/RH)

Twenty-four mothers were trained to record emotional incidents involving their toddlers. Reports of disciplinary encounters were analyzed in terms of (1) the types of discipline used and children's responses to that discipline and (2) the relationship between compliance/noncompliance and type of misdeed. Love withdrawal was shown to be a highly…

This longitudinal study (1) replicated research findings that there is a sex difference in the relationship between early mother responsiveness to children's requests for attention and later assessments of children's agentic behavior, and (2) reassessed differences in maternal responsiveness to boys versus girls. (Author/DB)

Interaction between mother and first-born child before and after the birth of a second child was studied in 41 families, using home observations and interview techniques. (MP)

Analyses were made of the pattern and frequency of mothers' visits to the intensive care nursery for premature infants. Visiting was found to be uncorrelated with medical, socioeconomic, or demographic variables, but was apparently related to significantly higher state levels achieved by infants who received a program of early stimulation.…

Reviews recent research advances in the areas of individual differences in the way maternal-infant attachment behavior becomes organized, differential experiences associated with various attachment patterns, and the values of such patterns in forecasting subsequent development. (Author/GC)

Investigates infant preferences for interaction with mother v father, similarities and differences in maternal and paternal behavior, and the influence of a second parent's presence on parent-infant interaction. Families with infants 15 months of age were observed in their own homes. (Author/SS)