This study explores intrapsychic structures underlying Marcia's ego identity statuses in terms of separation-individuation patterns. Marcia's Ego Identity Status Interview and Hansburg's Separation Anxiety Test were administered to 140 undergraduates in New Zealand. As predicted, high statuses showed less anxiety than secure attachment or…

Investigated the universality of children's use of their mothers as a secure base. Found that, on average, children in all seven of the countries and contexts studied were characterized as using their mothers as a secure base, but that they differed across cultures in the degree to which their behavior conformed to the definition of a securely…

Examines the relationship between parental attachment histories and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The Adult Attachment Interview was given to 27 mothers and fathers with children 3.5 years old. Models that included fathers' attachment histories predicted more variance in kindergarten teachers' descriptions of children's…

Refugee families in Australia generally have a dual challenge--dealing with past traumatic experiences while facing the struggles of integrating with a new and unfamiliar society. For children and their families who have experienced war-related trauma and disruption, the resettlement process is being referred to as "secondary trauma" to…

Addressed to judges and the legal profession in juvenile justice, this article argues that social attachment theory, particularly parent-child bonding, can be valuable in conceptualizing child abuse and neglect and making decisions about intervention in child abuse and neglect cases. Three categories of deficient parent-child bonds are described…

Presents studies on primates and human infants suggesting that maternal depression may predispose the infant to chronic depression. Findings also suggest that the effect of early separations from the mother may provide a model for reactive depression in the infant. (Author/BB)

Details the author's experiences in helping her adopted four-year-old daughter from Bangladesh cope with the loss of her biological family and her adjustment to a new culture, and offers suggestions for professionals and parents helping young children make similar adjustments. (HOD)

Evaluates a family-based treatment for childhood anxiety. Children (N=79) with separation anxiety, overanxious disorder or social phobia were randomly allocated to three treatment conditions: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), CBT and family management, or a waiting list. Indicated 69.8% of the children no longer fulfilled diagnostic criteria for…

Examined attachments that children form with the same caregiver and those that two caregivers form with a child in communal sleeping and family sleeping kibbutzim. Found concordance among relationships between two caregivers and the same child, as the caregivers model behaviors for each other. Found congruence in two infants' relationships to…

This article examines the issue of separation and its impact on military families, including on infants and toddlers. Deployments and unaccompanied tours of duty (temporary assignments and 12-24 month assignments, both without family members, respectively) take military personnel away from their loved ones for extended periods of time. …

Maternal separation anxiety influences maternal behavior, attitudes about employment, and employment decisions made by mothers. This study examined the relationship between maternal separation anxiety and the number of hours a child was in substitute care. The sample consisted of 44 mothers and their children who ranged in age from 12 to 41 months…

A study examined how maternal separation anxiety contributes to the mother's departure actions and how those behaviors affect the child during separation. Subjects were 40 mothers and their toddlers, age 15 to 24 months, who were observed before and during separation. After completing the Maternal Separation Anxiety Questionnaire, mothers were…

A cross-national comparison of infant behavior in the Strange Situation was designed to determine whether preseparation episodes made any difference in attachment classifications and whether infant behavior before separation from mother was the same in different countries. Infants in different countries made similar primary appraisals of the…

Examined mothers' and fathers' responses on the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale (MSAS) and ability of parental characteristics to predict parents' responses. Found that mothers reported greater separation anxiety and employment-related separation concerns and more positive perceptions of separation effects than fathers. Relations between…

Discusses ways child caregivers can help the children they care for cope with separation anxiety by preparing for transitions. Includes suggestions for preparing the classroom, helping children and parents become comfortable in the classroom, and using rituals to make transitions easier for children and parents at the beginning and the end of the…