Effects of maternal employment on the child: A review of the research.

Reviews recent studies of the effects of maternal employment on the child. Research has been organized around 5 hypotheses: (a) The working mother provides a different role model than does the nonworking mother. (b) Employment affects the mother's emotional state-sometimes providing satisfactions, sometimes role strain, and sometimes guilt-and this, in turn, influences the mother-child interaction. (c) The different situational demands as well as the emotional state of the working mother affect child-rearing practices. (d) Working mothers provide less adequate supervision. (e) The working mother's absence results in emotional and possibly cognitive deprivation for the child. Accumulated evidence, although sketchy and inadequate, offered some support for the 1st 4 hypotheses. Empirical studies of school-age children yielded no evidence for a theory of deprivation resulting from maternal employment, but adequate data are not yet available on the effects of maternal employment on the infant. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victimization by peers: Associations with children's reports of mother–child interaction.

Children who are chronically victimized by peers are at risk for personal difficulties. This study examined whether victimization is associated with mother–child interaction at home. Preadolescents (N?=?184; mean age?=?11.7 years) reported on their mother"s child-rearing practices and on how they cope during conflicts with their mother. Peers reported on victimization at school. Sex-specific links between perceived family interaction and peer victimization were found. For boys, victimization was associated with perceived maternal overprotectiveness, especially when boys reported reacting with fear during mother–child conflict. For girls, victimization was associated with perceived maternal rejection and with girls" reports of aggressive coping during mother–child conflict. Results support the theory that parenting that hinders children"s development of gender-salient competencies (autonomy for boys and communion for girls) places children at risk for peer victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral correlates of maternal depressive symptomatology in conduct-disorder children.

We contrasted two predictive models of the impact of maternal depressive symptomatology on child behavior in a study of 51 mothers and their conduct-disorder children. Relations between global measures of maternal distress and child adjustment and observational measures of mother–child interaction were examined. Children of distressed mothers were more maladjusted than children of nondistressed mothers, when maladjustment was measured on the basis of a global rating, but "better" adjusted when measured on the basis of interactional measures. Measures of maternal indiscriminate responding to the child may account for these findings. Results suggest that (a) although conduct-disorder children are generally more maladjusted when their mothers are distressed, they display this maladjustment in a selective fashion, and (b) maternal distress acts as an adverse contextual factor that maintains mother–child interactional difficulties by disrupting the attentional and monitoring skills required for contingent responding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on deep-seated social values and countertransference in mother-infant dyadic psychotherapy.

Presents an example of countertransference in mother–infant dyadic psychotherapy based in the value expressed as "A mother takes care of her child." Once this social value is brought to conscious awareness, the interfering nature of this countertransference is recognized. The therapist is freed to work with the mother toward her underlying treatment goal, which is to "be a good mother." If she is not emotionally capable of being the child's primary caretaker, the objective of enhanced attachment can be abandoned and "being a good mother" can be translated into "allowing the child to have a competent caretaker." The treatment objective can become the mother's emotional separation from her infant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Donor insemination: child development and family functioning in lesbian mother families

Findings are presented of a comparative study investigating the family relationships and the emotional and gender development of children raised in lesbian mother families. A total of 30 lesbian mother families with 4-8 year old children created as a result of donor insemination (DI) were compared with 38 heterosexual families with a DI child and with 30 heterosexual families who had a naturally conceived child. A variety of assessment measures, including a standardized interview and questionnaires from the parents and psychological testing of the child were used to collect the data. The quality of the couples' relationships and the quality of the mother-child interaction did not differ between lesbian mother families and either of the heterosexual family groups. The quality of the interaction between the social mother and the child in lesbian families was superior to that between the father and the child in both groups of heterosexual families. Childrens' own perception of their parents was similar in all family types; the social mother in lesbian families was regarded by the child to be as much a 'parent' as the father in both types of heterosexual families. With regard to their emotional/behavioural development, boys and girls raised in lesbian mother families were well adjusted and their gender role development did not differ from that of children raised in heterosexual families. These results indicate that child and family development in lesbian mother families is similar to that of heterosexual families.     

Mother–infant interaction and the development of individual differences in children's cognitive competence.

Assessed the antecedents of individual differences in children's cognitive/language competence at age 24 mo using multivariate methods at ages 6, 13, and 24 mo in 121 Ss. Assessments included detailed observations of mother–children interaction, standardized tests of child cognitive development (including the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment and the Bayley Mental Scale of Infant Development), and examiner and maternal ratings of child sociability. There were meaningful patterns of continuity in the child and especially mother behavior factors across ages, and mother–child warm, verbal interactions at each age were associated with a composite index of child competence at 24 mo. A path analysis showed that altogether, 40% of the variance in competence outcome was explained by the 4 variables in the model (interaction at 3 ages and SES). The analysis also showed that the original bivariate correlation between interaction at 6 mo and later competence could be explained by continuity in interaction qualities at 6 and 24 mo rather than as a direct effect. However, the 13-mo interaction showed both a direct path to competence and an indirect one via age 24-mo interaction. SES had a modest significant correlation with competence, but in the path analysis this was dissipated in nonsignificant paths to the interaction variables. Partial correlations suggested that child developmental competence and sociability at earlier ages did not mediate the relationships between mother–infant interaction and later child competence. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Munchausen syndrome by proxy: a different kind of child abuse

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) continues to mystify health care professionals, law enforcement officials and the judicial system. Even though the first cases were described in 1977, it remains puzzling why a parent would want to induce fictitious symptoms and illnesses in a child. Many professionals do not consider MSBP as a diagnosis because the parent, usually the mother, is so convincing that she is a "good" mother, cares about and wants the best for her child. This article is offered to further educate physicians that MSBP exists, can present in the form of anything and should be considered as a diagnosis in cases that do not make medical sense. Case examples are provided, along with common and not so common presentations. MSBP is a form of severe child abuse that must be reported to Child Protection Service when a child is endangered. Physicians play a critical role in identifying these children and recommending the best course of action to the rest of the system.     

Communicative styles of mothers interacting with their preschool-age children: a factor analytic study

The aim of this study was to determine if mothers display identifiably different communicative styles in their interaction with their normally developing two- to five-year-old children. In order to investigate this issue an extensive coding system was developed, which assessed the structural organization and the communicative function of the speech of 71 mothers as they interacted with their children. By means of factor analysis three maternal communicative styles were distinguished: non-intervening, explaining and directing. In the non-intervening style there is no direct pressure from the mother on the child to respond verbally. The explaining mother is primarily concerned with providing information to her child in a way that gives the child little opportunity to take the speaking turn. The directing mother is mainly engaged in directing the child's behaviour by means of verbal control. The internal consistency of the three communicative styles appeared to be both satisfactory and related to relevant child and mother features.     

Microchimerism and the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis

OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the state of a mother's depression three months after childbirth and to what sort of or to whose social support it is related. METHOD: In October 1993, a questionnaire survey was conducted on the attributes, state of depression by Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, and social support of 300 mothers who received health examinations of their 3 to 4 months' old infants at five health centers in Tokyo. Relationship between depression and social support of 256 mothers (rate of valid answer 85.3%) was examined by one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The depression score averaged 37.3 points, with 73 persons (28.5%) scoring 40 to 47 points (light) and 27 persons (10.5%) scoring 48 or more points (medium level or higher). The following were the variables which individually showed a significant relationship to the depression score after controlling for age, education, number of children, type of family, and whether or not the mother was working: The emotional support score from the husband and his parents, such as the frequency in which the husband "listened to the mother's worries and anxieties" "was attentive or considerate to the mother" and "helped in feeding the child", the frequency in which the husband's parents "could be consulted on worries the mother had about childbirth, child care and child development" and "nursed and played with the child". It was found that the better the state of such support, the less the state of depression. On the other hand, support from the mother's parents, neighbors, and friends had no bearing on depression. CONCLUSION: The level of depression of the surveyed group was the same as that of the general female public. Postpartum depression was related to emotional support from the husband and emotional and practical support from the husband's parents. Therefore, from the aspect of preventing depression, we believe it is important that, firstly, the mother and family should understand the importance of support and improve the support by the family, and, secondly, the mother herself should improve her ability to cope.     

The dead mother

This study is not concerned, as the title might suggest, with the actual death of the mother but with the child's experience of a mother who is physically present but internally absent due to depression. The child simultaneously introjects and splits off the mother imago, making mourning and "burial" equally impossible. The consequence of this cathectic deprivation is what the author calls "psychic holes" or "white depression". Green attributes to the dead mother a similar structuring function for the psychic apparatus to that attributed to the dead father in Freud's Totem and Taboo, and places the dead mother complex side by side with the Oedipus complex.     

Consistency of maternal behavior from infancy to preadolescence.

Continuing studies on the effect of the mother on child development, the present investigation establishes that (a) interviews with the mother elicit comparable data to that gleaned from direct observation of the mother-child interaction and (b) at least with regard to the love-hate dimension, there is a consistent pattern of relationship between mother and child during infancy and in to preadolescence. Such validation was not found with regard to the factor of the autonomy-control continuum. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social class, experimental setting, and task characteristics as determinants of mother–child interaction.

Used an observational method to investigate the effects of social class (SC; middle vs lower), experimental setting (home vs laboratory), and interaction task (free-play vs command) on mother–child interactions. Ss were 32 pairs of mothers and 4-yr-old sons from intact families. In support of recent research that has emphasized the control of certain sampling and procedural factors, results do not demonstrate substantial SC effects. Those SC effects that did emerge (maternal questions and direct commands) were more strongly predicted by a covariate of SC (mother–child verbal IQ) than by SC. Setting did not influence mother–child behaviors nor did it interact with SC to influence such behaviors. As expected, several significant task effects emerged. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infantile colic as maternal reason of consulting a pediatrician: characteristics of mother and child

About 10-20% of infants under four months of age suffer from infantile colic (IC), an excessive screaming behaviour caused by multiple factors. WESSELS et al. (1954) definition is that babies in usually good health and nutritional condition are screaming/whining more than three hours daily, more than three days weekly for no apparent reasons. The question is whether/in what way daily routines of infants concerned differ from normal infants. Mothers of colicky infants (n = 25) and mothers in a control group (n = 25) record characteristics of the mother/child relationship, their assumptions why the child is screaming, care and attention they provide and babies' reactions. For seven days the mothers kept a diary about the babies' behaviour and worked on questionnaires concerning social support received, depressant effects and exhaustion. Interviews about the extent of care provided as well as personal thoughts and emotions were conducted. The "colic group" formed two subgroups: one fulfilling Wessels criteria (Wessel-Koliker; WK), the other more conforming with the "control group" babies though mothers complained about screaming (Non-Wessel-Koliker; NWK). "Colic group"-babies received more attention and care (compared to the "control group" babies), attempts to calm them down frequently failed and mothers in this group reacted less promptly to their babies' screaming. "NWK-group"-mothers strongly tend to attribute the babies' screaming to "meteorism" or "discontent". No differences existed between groups concerning social support, depressant effects and exhaustion. There is a risk that the colic may negatively influence the mother/child interaction beyond three months.     

Caring for a second baby: Effects on interaction between mother and firstborn.

The results of an observational study of 40 families showed a marked increase in confrontation between mother and the firstborn and a decrease in maternal attentive playfulness after birth of a 2nd child. The direct effects of the mother's attention to the 2nd child on her interaction with the 1st child were examined by comparing 3 situations: (a) feeding the 2nd child, (b) holding/caregiving the 2nd child, and (c) not involved with the 2nd child. When the mother was occupied with the 2nd child, there was an increase in confrontation but also in positive involvement between the mother and 1st child. The decrease in maternal attention after the sibling birth occurred in contexts in which the mother was not occupied with the baby. With younger 1st children, these effects were particularly marked. Confrontation was higher in bottle-feeding than in breast-feeding situations. Sex differences were not significant. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observed sibling interaction: Links with the marital and the mother–child relationship.

The study examines whether the link between the marital relationship and sibling interaction is direct or mediated by the mother–child relationship. Seventy-three same-sex sibling pairs aged 3 years 6 months to 8 years 6 months were observed during free play. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing marital functioning and their relationship with their 2 children. Results indicated that older siblings' negative behavior is linked with negative dimensions of the marital and the mother–child relationship, whereas younger siblings' negative behavior is linked with the mother–child and the differential mother–child relationship. Siblings' positive behavior, although linked with spacing, is not linked with positive dimensions of family interaction. Most important, the linkage between negative marital relations and older siblings' negative behavior was found to be mediated by maternal power assertion, thereby supporting the indirect model of negative family interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations among family interaction patterns, classroom self-restraint, and academic achievement in preadolescent boys.

Relations among observed family interaction patterns, preadolescent boys' classroom self-restraint, and academic achievement were studied in a sample of 65 intact families. In contrast to previous work in this area, children's social adjustment was introduced as a potential mechanism that mediates the relations between parent–child interactions and academic performance. Correlational results showed significant relations between achievement and all parent–child interaction scores except mother–son hostility. However, regression analyses suggested that the association between father–son interactions and achievement is mediated almost entirely by sons' restraint, whereas the relationships between mother–son interactions and achievement are not. Observed mother–father hostility also appears to be an indirect predictor of sons' academic achievement by way of its association with sons' restraint. These findings are especially important in that they identify social competence in the form of behavioral self-restraint as a noncognitive mediator between the quality of family functioning and academic achievement during early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Families created through surrogacy: Mother–child relationships and children's psychological adjustment at age 7.

Each year, an increasing number of children are born through surrogacy and thus lack a genetic and/or gestational link with their mother. This study examined the impact of surrogacy on mother–child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother–child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. No differences were found for maternal negativity, maternal positivity, or child adjustment, although the surrogacy and egg donation families showed less positive mother–child interaction than the natural conception families. The findings suggest that both surrogacy and egg donation families function well in the early school years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Simultaneous discovery of osteopetrosis in a mother and fetus on the occasion of radiopelvimetry (author's transl)

On the occasion of radiopelvimetry, requested for suspected narrowed pelvis, osteopetrosis was discovered simultaneously in the mother and fetus. At birth, the child was perfectly normal and subsequently showed no clinical or laboratory disorder apart from diffuse osseous condensation. The genetic enquiry proved difficult owing to the family situation and up to this day it is not complete and definitively stopped. Although the beginning of the osseous disorders starts in the fetus on an average at the 4th to 5th month of pregnancy, Albers-Schonberg disease is exceptionally diagnosed during the parenatal period. In fact, the incidence of osteopetrosis in the population remains low and on the other hand prenatal radiological examinations are sparingly requested for specific clinical indications. It is the simultaneous discovery of the condition in the mother and the fetus which makes this case a novel one. The discovery of the fetal involvement does not permit prediction concerning progress towards a benign or malignant form.     

Child care and mother–child interaction in the first three years of life.

Relations between nonmaternal child care and ratings of maternal sensitivity and child positive engagement during mother–child interaction at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months were examined for 1,274 mothers and their children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development(NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. In longitudinal analyses that controlled for selection, child, and family predictors, child care was a small but significant predictor of maternal sensitivity and child engagement. For the whole sample, including families who did and did not use child care, more hours of child care predicted less maternal sensitivity and less positive child engagement. For children who were observed in child care, higher quality child care predicted greater maternal sensitivity, and more child-care hours predicted less child engagement. The effects of child care on mother–child interaction were much smaller in the analytical models than the effects of maternal education but were similar in size to the effects of maternal depression and child difficult temperament. Patterns of association with child care did not differ significantly across ages of assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers, fathers, and children in an urban park playground: A comparison of dyads and triads.

Observations were made of mother–child, father–child, and mother–father–child groups in an urban park playground. Results show great similarity between father–child dyads and mother–father–child triads, with mother–child dyads being consistently different. It is suggested that the similarities between triads and father-child dyads may occur because fathers and children rarely spend time alone together. Their dyadic rates of interaction and activity thus resemble those found in the triadic setting they usually experience. Group size and roles and relationships appear to exert a complex interactive effect on family-interaction patterns. The degree to which results might be situation-specific is considered, and implications for our understanding of family-interaction processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)